LANCASTER COUNTY, S.C. (CN2 NEWS) A citizen heading into Lancaster County, on Highway 200, noticed 2 injured dogs on the side of the highway. She stopped to check on the animals and got them into her vehicle.
The dogs were taken to the Lancaster County Animal Shelter. The shelter reported the incident to the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office. When they were found, the dogs were on the north side of Highway 200 — near the Lancaster side of the Tom Mangum Bridge and the intersection of Highways 97 and 200.
Both dogs are young female pit bulls. One is brindle, and the other is tan and white. Neither dog was wearing a collar, tag or a microchip. Both dogs sustained several severe injuries to their faces and muzzles and will require veterinarian care.
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s office opened an investigation on the dogs. Right now, the sheriff’s office does not know the owner of the dogs, how they came to be at the location where they were discovered, or how they got their injuries. Because of where the dogs were found — near the Lancaster-Chester County line — it’s not clear whether events related to the dogs occurred in Chester County.
Officers says the dogs injuries are consistent with dog fighting, although it is unknown if that caused them.
“If the injuries to these dogs were caused by the actions of humans, the person or persons responsible should be tracked down, arrested, and prosecuted,” says Sheriff Barry Faile. “No animal should be treated this way. We intend to investigate this case as far as we can go. Because of the remoteness of the location and its proximity to Chester County, we have little to go on, and we need anybody with any information about these dogs or dog fighting to contact us. You don’t have to give us your name.”
The sheriff’s office is working with the Humane Society in the investigation.
“The bloodied and torn conditions that Honey and Amber were found in are absolutely horrific,” says Kelsey Gilmore-Futeral, South Carolina State Director for the Humane Society of the United States. “The Humane Society of the United States joins the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office in the fight against animal cruelty and offers a $5,000.00 reward to anyone who reports information to the sheriff’s office that leads to the arrest or conviction of the people responsible for the condition of these animals.”
The Lancaster County Sheirff’s Office asks anyone with information about this or any other case should call the Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office at 803-283-3388 or contact Midlands Crimestoppers in one of the following ways: dial 888-CRIME-SC.
