Carcasses of 70 Dogs, 2 Cats Found Piled in Woods

A man looking for wild mushrooms in a wooded area of Frederick County this week found the carcasses of more than 70 dogs and two cats in a pile on private property near the Potomac River, authorities said yesterday.

The carcasses appeared to have been piled there at least a month ago and perhaps as long as two months ago, said Harold Domer, director of the Frederick County Animal Control Division. The animals "were fairly well decomposed," he said.

Domer said his office is attempting to learn if the animals were killed at the scene or were dumped there. It is possible for a truck to have made its way down a wide path to the spot, off Rock Hall Road in the community of Point of Rocks.

"We're not ruling out any motive or any suspects," Domer said.

After the walker's grisly discovery Tuesday, two county animal control officers, Deborah Norris and Michael Douglas, investigated.

"It was horrific," Douglas said yesterday.

Wearing rubber gloves and protective boots and face masks, Douglas and Norris carefully picked through the pile, estimated to be at least 15 feet across and two feet high. By examining skulls, they identified the remains as those of dogs and cats.

Douglas said most of the animals appeared to be medium-sized or small dogs. He said no collars or identifying microchips were found in the pile.

The property owner, a developer, doesn't appear to be involved. "He had no idea this took place," Douglas said.

In a similar incident, early in 2006, the carcasses of about 250 dogs, cats and other animals, many pets from the Washington region, were discovered by a woman walking on private property in rural West Virginia. Some of the carcasses had intravenous tubes attached to their bodies, according to authorities. A subcontractor working for a pet crematorium was indicted on a charge of willful depredation of federal land.

Efforts yesterday to learn the outcome of that case were unsuccessful.

In the Frederick County case, Douglas said a charge of cruelty to animals might be applicable, depending on when and how the dogs and cats died. It was unclear whether other criminal penalties might be available under Maryland law.

A state veterinarian, Virginia Pierce, is scheduled to examine skulls and at least one full skeleton today, said Sue duPont, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Department of Agriculture. Pierce will seek to determine the causes of death.

Based on the position of some of the bones, it appears that wild animals got to some of the bodies, Domer said. There was little skin left on the animals, he said, but there were patches of fur on some of carcasses.

Staff researcher Meg Smith contributed to this report.