Reward of Up to $5,000 Offered for Help Nabbing Dog Killer

PETA Seeks Information on Culprit(s) Who Dropped Dog Into Catawba River to Drown

For Immediate Release:
April 5, 2018

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

On March 28, a pair of friends discovered a pink-camouflage drawstring bag floating in the Catawba River about a hundred yards away from the bridge on Yancey Road. Inside the bag, they discovered the body of a small brown-and-black Chihuahua mix wearing a purple floral-print collar—and a necropsy later concluded that the 3- to 5-year-old female dog had been alive when she was tossed into the river, where she drowned.

The McDowell County Sheriff’s Office is investigating but has yet to make any arrests in the case, prompting PETA to offer a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction on cruelty-to-animals charges of the person or persons responsible for this heinous crime.

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to abuse in any way”—is also asking people to help spread the word and put up free downloadable posters, available here, in businesses and schools, on bulletin boards, and anywhere else that they’re allowed to display them.

“Someone stuffed this little dog into a bag and threw her in a river to drown,” says PETA Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “PETA is calling on anyone who recognizes this bag or collar to come forward immediately so that whoever is responsible for her horrible death can be stopped from hurting anyone else.”

Anyone who recognizes the bag or collar in the photo—or has any other information about the dog—is encouraged to call the McDowell County Sheriff’s Office at 828-652-2235 or Crime Stoppers at 828-65-Crime.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.