Police seek person who stabbed, killed dog

Gwinnett police are asking for the public’s help in tracking down the person who stabbed and dismembered a dog before discarding the carcass behind a Duluth store.

An employee of a business in the 1600 block of Pleasant Hill Road notified police upon finding the German Shepherd’s remains behind the store the day before Thanksgiving.

At first, authorities weren’t sure if it was a dog or a coyote. A necropsy performed later by a forensic veterinarian revealed that it was a 1-year-old male German Shepherd. A stab wound led to the dog’s death, said Gwinnett police spokeswoman Cpl. Illana Spellman.

Spellman said investigators are especially anxious to get leads that could point them to the culprit in the “gruesome” crime, adding that “anybody that is capable of doing that is capable of doing anything,” Spellman said.

Police have obtained surveillance video from nearby stores and they are reviewing it.

Dr. Melinda Merck, who performed the necropsy, is one of the nation’s foremost forensic veterinarians. She said the German Shepherd did not appear to have suffered prior abuse or neglect.

“It was not a stray,” Merck said. “There was good fat on the body, which leads me to believe that the dog had been well cared for, well fed and belonged to somebody at least recently.”

Merck, like other seasoned animal welfare workers, said she was alarmed at the viciousness of the crime.

Animal Enforcement Officer Joey Brooks, who has routinely handled animal cruelty and neglect cases over seven years of employment with the county, said “I’ve never seen anything like this at all.”

Whoever killed the dog is subject to be charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, which carries a penalty of one to five years in prison and fines of up to $15,000, police said.

Anyone with information about the crime is encouraged to contact the Animal Welfare and Enforcement Center at 770-339-3200.