The Ontario Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (OSPCA) says the death of a Cane Corso found beaten to death in Brampton last month, along with a string of puppy thefts in the area, could be evidence of a dog fighting ring in Peel Region.

“We don’t have enough to point to a dog fighting ring definitively, but the pieces that we have before us have put us on heightened alert,” said Jennifer Bluhm, OSPCA’s deputy chief of operations, noting that incidents of puppies being stolen or going missing “could be an indication of a dog fighting ring.”

There have been at least three incidents in the last two months in and around Peel where puppies have been stolen:

• April 3: two gunpoint puppy thefts in Toronto lead police to two Brampton men now charged in connection with the incidents. The pups had been advertised for sale on Kijiji by separate owners, according to Toronto police. Both pups have been returned.

• May 30: Peel Regional Police say a 17-year-old male, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been charged with theft under $5,000 and possession of stolen property in connection with the theft of Junior‎, an 11-week-old American Bulldog who was grabbed from its young owner around 5 p.m. as the boy was walking his dog on the playing field behind Hickory Wood Public School on Ray Lawson Boulevard, just east of Chinguacousy Road. Junior has been returned to his home.

• June 11: June 11, three suspects — two males and one female – went into a 27-year-old Malton man’s home posing as buyers interested in purchasing a puppy that was advertised for sale on an online classified site. The suspects pepper-sprayed the owner and fled with the 8-week-old, white female Argentine Dogo in a four-door, silver Honda Civic. The pup was found wandering in Whitby and the family who spotted it recognized it from media reports and contacted Peel Police. The puppy will stay with the Whitby family.

Meanwhile, Brampton Animal Services is investigating after a dog was found beaten to death in a north end park last month.

On May 10, officials from both the city and OSPCA were called to Spruce Park on Heart Lake Road, near Sandalwood Parkway, to investigate a report of a dead dog.

Investigators say upon arrival, officers found a male Cane Corso dog dead near a parking area.

The dog was approximately five years old with dark-brown brindle fur.