x
Breaking News
More () »

GRAPHIC CONTENT: Dog Found Dead in Midland, Residents Suspect Torture

A dog was found dead Tuesday morning on the side of Cotton Flat Road, near West County Road 120, with "suspicious injuries" that led passing drivers to suspect animal abuse.

MIDLAND COUNTY, TX (KWES) - A dog was found dead Tuesday morning on the side of Cotton Flat Road, near West County Road 120, with "suspicious injuries" that led passing drivers to suspect animal abuse.

Photos shared by NewsWest 9 viewers show the Blue Heeler mix sprawled on the ground with nearly a third of its skin stripped off, exposing raw flesh and ribs.

The dog was found with no collar or tags.

"To me, it looked like somebody had poured something onto the dog's back [such as] battery acid," said Tonya Allison, a West County Road 120 resident who noticed the pup when she was driving home. "It looked like the skin had been burned off. A lot of other people thought maybe it had been skinned."

The injuries appeared too "clean-cut" and precise to be the result of an accident or attack from another animal, she added.

Allison said she notified authorities Tuesday morning, immediately upon making the gruesome discovery.

"I called everybody I could and tried getting [officials] to come get the dog off the side of the road," she said. "It doesn't matter if it's a stray or a pet. There's no reason for something like this to happen and then the dog to be left out there."

Her attempts proved unsuccessful. The rotting carcass was still on the side of Cotton Flat Road when a NewsWest 9 crew arrived Wednesday afternoon, and remained unmoved when they returned at 10 p.m.

According to Midland County Sheriff Gary Painter, dispatchers did not receive any calls about the dog on Cotton Flat Road and were not aware of the incident.

The dog was found outside city limits, beyond the boundaries of Midland Police and Animal Control jurisdiction.

The apparent skinning or burning is reminiscent of a separate incident reported last week in Odessa.

Tinkerbell, a beloved 12-year-old Chihuahua, was found dead on August 31 near her family's home on East 17th Street. She had been skinned by somebody intending to torture her, Odessa Police said.

Before You Leave, Check This Out