Reward of Up to $5,000 Offered in Dog-Dumping Case

PETA Joins Search for Culprit(s) Who Burned and Abandoned Puppy

For Immediate Release:
April 30, 2020

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 in exchange for information leading to the arrest and cruelty-to-animals conviction of the person(s) who injured and abandoned a puppy, leaving him with severe burns on his face, legs, and body.

A good Samaritan called the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Office on March 27 after finding the 6- to 8-week-old brown puppy on a secluded dirt road off Holly Shelter Road in Castle Hayne. The dog, who rescuers named Oscar, is now receiving veterinary care—but as Lt. Jerry Brewer tells PETA, “We really need anyone with information to come forward.”

“Someone dumped this little dog, who was likely scared and in tremendous pain from the burns covering his body, on the side of the road,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is asking for the public’s help in identifying this puppy and holding his abusers responsible for tormenting and abandoning him.”

PETA urges families to keep their animal companions safely indoors and never to leave them unattended outside, where they may be stolen or hurt by cruel people. Dogs should always be accompanied in the backyard and escorted on walks on a comfortable, secure harness and leash.

Anyone with information should submit a tip online or call the New Hanover County Sheriff’s Animal Services Unit at 910-798-7517.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.