Groups, private donor offer reward in Arkansas 'dog massacre' case

Thomas Gounley | TGOUNLEY@NEWS-LEADER.COM

Two animal protection groups and an anonymous private donor are offering a total of $8,000 in reward money for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of whomever is responsible for what one local human society officials said looks to be the "most brutal" case of mass animal cruelty in the history of the state of Arkansas. Dozens of dogs were fed hot dogs laced with sleeping pills in northern Arkansas' Searcy County, authorities say, before someone proceeded to shoot and kill many of them.

Washington D.C.-based Human Society of the United States is offering up to $5,000 to help solve what its public information officer called "a horrific large-scale cruelty case." California-based In Defense of Animals, meanwhile, announced its own $2,000 reward, calling the episode a "dog massacre." And the Searcy County Humane Society says an anonymous donor has pledged another $1,000.

"This was a merciless attack on trusting and loving dogs. Someone knows who did this," Doll Stanley, In Defense of Animals' Justice for Animals Coalition Director, said in a news release. "We urge people with any information that could be linked to come forward."

“This grisly and heinous act of violence against these poor dogs is extremely disturbing, especially considering the connection between animal cruelty and human violence is well documented," Human Society Director of Animal Crimes Chris Schindler said in a separate release. "The person or persons responsible for this extreme act of violence needs to be caught.

Searcy County Humane Society Treasurer Jean Passmore told the Associated Press Monday that loggers were looking at uninhabited timber land Thursday near Arkansas Highway 254 when they came across the bodies of some of the dogs.

Passmore said 57 dogs were found to have been poisoned and then shot, including five animals that were found alive but with such severe injuries from gunshot wounds that they had to be euthanized. Shelter workers found three dogs that it appeared had been fed sleeping pills, but had escaped the gunshots. They found another dog with a gunshot wound to its collarbone and jaw area.

“This appears to be the most brutal, deliberate and premeditated case of mass animal cruelty this state has ever had and will not be tolerated by the good people of our state and elsewhere," Passmore said in the release distributed by the Human Society.

Reached Wednesday, Passmore praised Humane Society shelter manager John Magruder, who she says visited the site of the deaths for days to ensure all dogs had been found.

"The man has a heart as big as all outdoors," Passmore told The Baxter Bulletin. "I don't know how he's done it."

Both the Arkansas State Police and local officers with the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission were called to help with the initial investigation, but both agencies had turned over their findings to the Searcy County Sheriff's Office as of Monday.

People from all over the country have called the Searcy County shelter offering money, support and words of kindness, Passmore said.

Information from the Associated Press contributed to this report.