Animal welfare authorities are asking for the public's help after a woman allegedly fled from police with what appeared to be her injured service dog.

According to the Ontario SPCA, one of its officers paid a visit to an Ottawa home on Aug. 10 over concerns that a dog there had been mistreated.

The officer found a "thin Rottweiler-type dog" that couldn't bear weight on its right hind leg, and ordered the woman to take the animal to a veterinarian.

When the woman refused, the OSPCA tried unsuccessfully to remove the dog from the woman's care, the agency said Tuesday.

Last seen in Hintonburg

After Ottawa police were called in, the woman fled with the dog, the OSPCA said. They were last seen at around 4:15 p.m. on Friday near Wellington and Pinhey streets in the city's Hintonburg neighbourhood.

The woman is 28, approximately five-feet-four-inches tall, and weighs 170 pounds, the OSPCA said. She has long black hair, a piercing on her right eyebrow, and was last seen wearing a black shirt, black mesh gloves and black spandex capri pants.

The dog is a black-and-tan Rottweiler who answers to "Lucy," and was last seen wearing a red service dog vest. She also has a swollen leg and has difficulty walking, the OSPCA said.

Anyone with information can call 310-SPCA (7722).