NORRIDGEWOCK — The area animal control officer is investigating after a dog’s body was found in a ditch on Madison Road.

Pam Everett of Madison Road said a neighbor saw the body of the dog — possibly a rottweiler or black Lab mix — Sunday morning

“The man next door came over in the morning saying there was this dog in his ditch,” Pam Everett said Monday. “It was a big, big black Lab — an older dog. We realized that somebody dumped the dog here.”

Everett said she took pictures of the dead dog and visited homes along that stretch of road on Sunday. No one reported owning a dog matching the description of the one found in the ditch.

“No one has a Lab within a three-mile radius of this place,” she said.

Everett said she reported the incident to the Somerset County Sheriff’s Department. Deputy Mike Ross turned the matter over to David Huff, the area’s animal control officer.

Huff said there’s no evidence the dog was hit by a car. The animal did not have identifying tags.

“The only thing I can think of is that somebody had dumped it off,” he said. “Unless somebody comes forward and sees the pictures and knows the dog, there isn’t a lot we can do because we don’t know who dumped the dog out there.”

Liam Hughes, director of animal welfare at the state Department of Agriculture, said it is illegal in Maine to dispose of the carcass or body parts of any domesticated animal in an improper manner.

“Just throwing it on the side of the road would probably be considered an improper manner,” Hughes said.

Huff said he thought the dog appeared to be part Rottweiler and may have been in the ditch a few days.

Huff said the dog was taken to the shelter in Waterville where it will be properly disposed of.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com

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