An Olympia, Washington, couple said they found a dead dog that had been skinned with its paws and tail cut off near a fishing pier.
Sources tell KIRO that the Thurston County Sheriff's Office is investigating and detectives believe a person killed the dog.
Jacinda Gehrig and her boyfriend, Paul Krause, told KIRO that they found the skinned dog around 6:45 p.m. Friday as they walked toward the trails near the Nisqually River.
“It was terrible, it was like, it was so fresh,” Jacinda Gehrig said. She shared a graphic video of the skinned dog with the local station.
“I almost fainted and blacked (out) and I had to walk away for a second, and then just kind get myself together,” Gehrig said.
The couple called 911.
"It's pretty scarring, it really was," Paul Krause said, adding that he immediately thought of the person or people investigators believe have been killing and mutilating cats recently in Thurston County.
"I'm scared they’re going to move on to kids,” Krause said.
Investigators do not believe the serial cat killer is responsible for the dog's death, according to KIRO sources, because of differences in the way the animals were killed.
Still, that provided little comfort for Gehrig and Krause, who said the image of the skinned dog has been stuck in their heads ever since.
"I was so scared to go to sleep, like every time I closed my eyes, I saw the dog over and over,” said Gehrig.
KIRO contacted the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office for more information, but has not heard back.
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