Burned animal remains found at shelter

Animal Rescue League employeeswere shaken after finding the burned remains of multiple animals in their dumpster. ABC 7 Reporter Ashlie Rodriguez explains.

“When I went to pick up the trash can, there was pieces of dog inside the trash,” said Animal Rescue League staff member Janette Velasquez.

Velasquez was taking out the trash yesterday afternoon when the burned and bloody head of a dog rolled onto her arm.

“It looked like they tried to burn the dog in the bin and it didn’t fully burn so the rest of the pieces were in the trash,” Velasquez said.

What shelter employees believe is the mutilated and burned bodies of a dog and ostrich were found in and around their trash bin, an act the Animal League believes offends their very purpose.

“We’ve been here for 17 years and I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Kennel Manager Loretta Hyde. “For somebody to dismember the animal is bad enough, but then to burn it and throw it in a dumpster that belongs to an animal shelter…I don’t know what people think when they do things like this.”

Hyde says she doesn’t believe the remains are related to occult rituals because of the dog’s brown coloring, and while some people discard diseased animals by burning them, the dismemberment confuses her.

“The dismemberment of the body parts, and the partial burning and the beak and the feathers and all that. You know…it just makes me think that this was animal cruelty,” Hyde said.

Regardless of the circumstances, it’s illegal to dispose of a dog by dumping in the trash. For now the El Paso Sheriff’s Office investigates, while the Animal Rescue League picks up the pieces.

“Its not the right way to dispose of a dead animal,” Vasquez said.