PHILADELPHIA (CBS) — “Oh God. Oh Lord… have mercy.”

Few words… only gut wrenching sounds of anguish from Latanya Thomas moments after seeing her pit bull hanging from its leash on a neighbor’s fence.

“The neighbor of the owner of the animal saw the dog hanging at her backyard, over her fence,” SPCA’s George Bengal tells Eyewitness News.

Just 24 hours earlier, Latanya says she noticed that her pit bull and the dog’s two 3-month-old puppies were missing.

SPCA officers scoured the neighborhood, honing in on a dilapidated property in the 5100 block of Marvine Street in Logan. They’re looking for the suspects. The dog’s owner still coming to grips with the loss… wondering how a protective and fearless pit bull could have been captured and killed.

“I think they might have killed her before they put her over that gate,” Thomas says.

“This is obviously a deliberate act, along with the theft of the animals, so we’re looking for any information regarding this that will help us out,” Bengal says.

“She’s one of those hardheaded dogs. She don’t listen and she will, she will bite you. Ain’t no stranger gone walk up to her. Somebody shoot her, I really think so.”

According to the SPCA, a female found the puppies and thought they were strays. On Thursday, after seeing media reports, she brought the missing puppies to the SPCA.

They have been returned to the owner in good condition.

The PSPCA says there are no suspects at this time. If you have any information about this case, the PSPCA is asking you to call their cruelty hotline at 866-601-SPCA or to call Philadelphia Police right away.