LUDLOW, Maine — Local animal officials are seeking the public’s help in determining the owners of two dogs that were found dead on the side of the road last week.
Dave Rairdon, animal control officer for the towns of Ludlow and New Limerick, said a school bus driver spotted the dogs on the Laskey Road in Ludlow Thursday. That driver contacted the Maine State Police, who in turn contacted Rairdon shortly after 8:20 a.m.
“I went out and looked the scene over and took some pictures,” Rairdon said. “It appeared to me that they were placed there and had been covered in snow.”
Rairdon said it appeared that the two dogs had been lying in the snow for at least a month if not several months, and had been carefully placed side-by-side. Autopsies could not be performed on the animals because of the severe tissue damage. One of the dogs was a male beagle, while the other was a male beagle-mix. Neither animal was neutered and their necks were broken.
“It’s sickening to think somebody could do something like that and then go home and sleep that night,” he said.
Heather Miller, executive director of the Houlton Humane Society, said she has never seen such a vicious and deliberate act. It was not possible, in her opinion, for the dogs to have been struck by a car and left because there were no other broken bones or signs of trauma.
“Something about this whole thing is just really odd,” Miller said. “It was very apparent that their necks had been deliberately broken and they were placed there together.”
Miller said she named the dogs Noble and Justice and will put their names on a plaque to hang at the shelter. More than $500 was raised in just three days to help cover the expense of the cremation. The Ark Animal Sanctuary raised some of that money through a bake sale held Saturday in Houlton.
The cremation will take place on Wednesday, with a small ceremony planned at the humane society. Anyone with information on who the dogs belonged to can call Rairdon at 694-1623 or the Houlton Humane Society at 532-2862.
