MACON COUNTY, Ill. (WAND) - Animal rights group PETA is offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for starving and abandoning a dog that was found dead in a crate along a road near Forsyth.
On Tuesday morning, a local resident found a crate containing a dead dog that had been dumped on Sawyer Road south of the intersection at Sawyer and Illiniwick.
The dog is a larger breed with brindle coloring and appears to have been severely malnourished. The resident who found the dog called it in to the Macon County Sheriff's Office.
The case is being investigated by Macon County Animal Control.
Anyone with knowledge of the dog or owners can call Macon County Animal Control at 217-425-4508 or the Macon County Sheriff's Department at 217-424-1311.
PETA is hoping someone will recognize the dog by the multicolored collar decorated with cartoon bones and a pink buckle.
Two blue blankets were found partially covering the cage, and the dog may have pulled parts of them inside, indicating that the animal may have still been alive when abandoned, PETA said.
“This dog evidently wasted away and was dumped on the side of the road like garbage, either dead or dying, and no doubt terrified and miserable, desperate for warmth and comfort,” said PETA Senior Vice President Colleen O’Brien. “If there are other animals in the culprit’s custody, they could be in grave danger, and PETA urges anyone with information to come forward right away.”
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