By Adam Brazeau
CORNWALL, Ontario – The latest update on the circumstances surrounding the death of a dog found in the St. Lawrence River: “The necropsy is complete.”
Alison Cross, the Ontario SPCA’s director of marketing and communications, told Seaway News on Friday (June 12) that the post-mortem examination has been conducted, but no further details will be released at this time.
“We don’t place a deadline on our investigations. Reason being, as information unfolds it could result in a longer or shorter investigation,” said Cross in an email interview.
At Lock 15 in the east end of Cornwall around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday (May 26), Paul Coleman found what he described as the mutilated carcass of a Labrador retriever puppy.
He immediately informed Cornwall Community Police Service officers who, after arriving on scene, transported the young animal’s remains to the Stormont-Dundas-Glengarry SPCA branch in Cornwall.
CCPS handed the case over to the OSPCA, and the body was then taken out of town for a necropsy report to determine the cause of death.
If the findings show the dog was in fact tortured and killed, Const. Dan Cloutier said the police service will be looking to press criminal charges against the culprit(s).
“Someone did this,” said Coleman. “I can’t see it being from the river, because of the injuries. A lot of the fur was still intact.”
In response to the incident, Cornwall area animal lovers have created a Facebook group dedicated to raising reward money for information that will lead to an arrest and conviction.
For more information, read our previous coverage here.
