Community continues to search for canine killer
March 31st, 2006
SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP (AP) - First there were piles of skinned animals, mostly foxes and coyotes, which turned up on the edges of dirt roads in this semi-rural community outside Ann Arbor. Though gruesome, they looked like little more than the work of a sloppy trapper too lazy to properly dispose of the carcasses.
Things took a shocking turn on March 16, when what appeared to be someone's pet was found along with some skinned coyotes. The female rottweiler had been decapitated and its feet were bound with duct tape.
Since then, eight more dead dogs, including three without heads, have been discovered by residents and investigators with the Humane Society of Huron Valley. Despite a reward that has swelled to $18,000 with donations from community members, officials have so far been unable to determine even who the dogs belonged to.
The mysterious dog deaths - now being investigated separately from the wild animal carcasses - have rattled this picturesque Washtenaw County township, dominated by empty fields and wooded preserves and dotted by old, red barns. Residents are keeping a close eye on their pets, and some have voiced fears that whoever is capable of killing and mutilating dogs is a danger to humans as well.
The community's outrage was on display Wednesday on Vreeland Road, near the site where a medium-sized yellow dog, thought to be some kind of terrier, was found March 22.
"You will be caught! U will be punished U will Burn in Hell by God," read the pink bubble letters on a sign nailed to a dead tree.
Township resident Kim Hart said she fears Duke, her 2-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, may have fallen victim to the serial dog killer. He has been missing since Feb. 16.
"There's one really, really disturbed person out there, or a couple of disturbed people," said Hart, 33. "I'm hoping, obviously, that he doesn't have my dog."
Hart said Duke is not the type to run away, but this is not the first time he's gone missing. About two weeks before his disappearance, both he and Hart's other dog, 10-year-old Daisy, vanished for several hours. Both returned, Daisy with a snare around her neck.
When the dead dogs started turning up, Hart gave the snare to the Humane Society for its investigation. Officials initially believed that the dead dogs may have gotten caught in traps, but as more dogs have been discovered, that seems less likely, said Tanya Hilgendorf, the society's executive director.
Besides the rottweiler found March 16, none of the dogs found has been with wild animal carcasses, she said.
The cases of illegal dumping of wild animal carcasses, which began in January, were initially thought to be related to the dog deaths, but now are being investigated separately by the state Department of Natural Resources, which has two suspects, the Humane Society said yesterday.
Two male pit bulls that turned up Monday are the latest dogs to be found. Investigators don't know when or how they died, but they do not appear to have been hit by cars, Hilgendorf said.
The nine dogs include three rottweilers and three pit bulls. Hilgendorf noted that while both kinds of dogs can make good pets, they also are considered "bully breeds" and can be common "among young men who probably have aggressive tendencies." She declined to say whether that fact was considered significant to the investigation.
The remaining dogs are a terrier, a Labrador mix and a cocker spaniel.
Hilgendorf said none of the dogs bears signs that they were used in dogfighting.
It's not clear whether or not they are from the area. Investigators have not matched any of the dogs with those on the Humane Society's missing list, which takes reports from all of Washtenaw County. But, Hilgendorf said it's hard to draw any conclusions from that, since the decapitations, as well as decomposition, makes identifying the dogs difficult.
If they are being brought in from somewhere else, Superior Township would make a good place to drop off evidence of illicit activity. The 36-square-mile township of about 11,000 people is a rural oasis surrounded by rapid development. However, whoever dumped the dogs made little effort to hide them, dumping them on the roadside.
Printed from www.michigandaily.com on Fri, 10 Feb 2012 14:31:17 -0500