Young dog found hanging from tree had been shot and had a broken jaw

OHIO -- A young dog was found shot to death, her jaw broken, Friday on Orweiler Road near Bowers Road, below the Ohio Bird Sanctuary.

The dog, a female bull mastiff, appeared to be about a year old and was not wearing any tags, nor was she microchipped. Initially, authorities suspected the dog had been hanged, as she had been found dangling low from a tree by a leash.

“We’re not sure what happened. It’s a little suspicious, but it’s not cut and dried,” Missy Houghton, supervisor of the Humane Society of Richland County, said Friday afternoon as she was headed to a veterinarian’s office in Galion with the dog.

Houghton said a woman walking her dog found the animal. The time of death was most likely during the morning, and the dog had been moved before humane agents got to the scene.

A necropsy by Dr. Matthew Glass of the Horizon Animal Hospital determined that “it appears she was shot and her jaw was broken,” Houghton said.

“We are law enforcement, we just handle the animal cruelty aspect of it, and we are doing an investigation. Hunters are around there, shooting is allowed in that area. Anyone could have taken her there, we’re  really not sure what’s going on at this point.”

Houghton said she couldn’t recall any recent incidents of domesticated animals being shot in Richland County.

Anyone with information about what happened to the dog should call the Humane Society of Richland County at 419-774-4795.

(Mansfield News Journal - Mar 21, 2014)