An $8,000 reward is being offered for information in the case of a pet beagle that was skinned alive in southwest Missouri.

Neosho police Lt. Jason Baird says the dog's skin was removed from its neck to its tail and down to the top of its legs.

He says a resident reported seeing the injured animal emerge from a wooded area on September 23.

Authorities are seeking information after beagle was skinned alive in Missouri. About 75% of the dog's skin was removed when it was found alive in the town of Neosho

Baird says the beagle was in obvious pain when officers caught it, and the decision was made to put it down.

'You could just tell it wasn't doing good,' Baird said to the Joplin Globe. 'I'll just leave it at that.'

Baird says the dog was left inside a home while its owner was out of town and may have gotten out through an unsecured door.

The dog was not in its mutilated state when the owners left town.

'We don't think anyone broke in and took her,' Baird said. 'We just think it got out.'

The city provided a photo of the beagle in hopes of finding those responsible.

He said it is hard to believe that no one heard the dog when it was being skinned.

'I don't know how you couldn't,' Baird said.

Detectives even walked through nearby woods hoping to find a crime scene, but it had rained in the meantime and any sign of the abuse may have been washed away.

'It takes a truly callous person to skin a dog alive,' said Amanda Good, Missouri state director for Humane Society of the United States. 'And it's completely heartbreaking to imagine the suffering this dog endured.

'We hope that this reward will encourage anyone with information about this terrible crime to come forward, not only to help seek justice for this animal, but also to ensure the safety of the entire community.'

The community has contributed $3,000 to the reward, and the Humane Society of the United States announced Thursday that it´s chipping in $5,000 that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the person involved in the incident.

Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to contact the Neosho Police Department at 417-451-8012 or the Newtown County Sheriff's Office at 417-451-8300.