Police are asking for help in solving a case of animal cruelty and the Humane Society announced a reward in the case.

On Wednesday, the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office released a photo of the suspect vehicle. The Louisiana Humane Society also announced an animal protection charity is offering a $500 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the suspect in this case, according to Jeff Dorson, Executive Director, Humane Society of Louisiana.

On Sunday, February 16, 2020, at 2:00 P.M., deputies with the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office responded to an animal cruelty complaint near the bridge by Potato Shed Road in Henderson. A fisherman witnessed a small white single cab truck briefly stop on the bridge and toss a bag into the water, according to Major Ginny Higgins, spokesperson for the Sheriff's Office.

The fisherman, who thought someone threw out a bag of trash, went to fish it out of the water. The bag was retrieved and inside the bag were eight live newborn black lab mix puppies. Dorson states the puppies were three to five days old.

The suspect's truck was described as a possible older model white Toyota or Nissan single cab truck. In the back of the truck there was a silver dog box with bright yellow borders around the door of the dog box, Higgins stated. The suspect vehicle was seen traveling south on the Henderson levee road, towards Pat's Seafood Restaurant.

The puppies were originally placed with Precious Paw Prints Animal Rescue in Acadia Parish, before being transferred to Every Paw Animal Rescue (EPAR), an Evangeline Parish animal rescue group. EPAR volunteers are bottle feeding the puppies and giving them antibiotics every eight hours, to ward off potential respiratory infections caused by their ordeal in the cold water, added Dorson.

All eight puppies are expected to survive. Those interested in adopting can visit the EPAR website or Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/everypawanimalrescue/.

If anyone recognizes the vehicle or knows the owner of the truck, they are urged to contact the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office at (337) 394-3071 or via messenger on the St. Martin Parish Sheriff's Office Facebook page.

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