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Family dog brutally mutilated in Anderson

ANDERSON, Ind (WISH) — A gruesome mystery: Dog owners found their pet mutilated and barely alive.

At this point, how it happened is anybody’s guess. Police say it could’ve been anything — an animal attack or a car accidentally hitting it. But its owners are convinced someone, not something, is responsible.

“It looked like a murder scene. It really did. it looked like someone just literally whacked him half to death and then brought him and let him walk to the room,” said Gabrielle Hayes.

Roommates Gabrielle Hayes and Alyssa Gale described the horrific images of their family dog, Charlie Brown, the chocolate lab. It’s a scene so grotesque that we had to blur the pictures — three legs partially cut off, bone exposed and the tail torn, in part, from his body.

“My stomach got real woozy because I don’t like blood like that. I’m talking about, it was just horrible,” said Hayes.

Gale says they let Charlie out and in less than one hour, they heard him moaning at the back door. Charlie had been attacked. They believe somebody broke in through their gate. The next day, they took Charlie to the vet and he was euthanized. They also called police.

Anderson police are investigating what happened. But they can’t say that a person is responsible at this time.

“Bare with us in looking into this. To make sure that we don’t have an animal that was injured by other means than a criminal,” said Maj. Joel Sandefur of the Anderson Police Department.

Charlie’s owners do not believe he was attacked by another animal.

“Animals will not bite your feet off and leave you to live. They’re killing you for food,” said Gale.

Another dog was found in a similar condition near train tracks in Anderson, but police say it was likely hit by a train.

Purdue University performed a necropsy on Charlie. According to police, it did not determine if a person or animal attacked him.