Puppy tied up, thrown from moving vehicle in northeast Richland

Authorities are trying to determine who hog-tied a puppy, put a noose around its neck and threw it from a vehicle in northeast Richland.

Michelle Reid, executive director of Valiant: Animal Rescue and Relief, says her agency recovered the animal after receiving a tip from someone who saw a puppy thrown from a vehicle on Hunt Club Road just off Decker Boulevard on Feb. 17.

“She was in a plastic bag, closed, thrown out of a moving vehicle,” Reid said. “She was hog-tied; all four of her limbs were bound together, and she had a noose around her neck. Every time she would move to get free, it would tighten around her neck.”

The female pitbull puppy is infested with parasites and had an infection from the noose cutting into her neck, Reid said. Her legs had been tied together with some kind of twine, and she had been tossed onto the road in a plastic grocery bag.

“That dog was meant to suffer,” Reid said of the puppy’s injuries. “It wasn’t supposed to be a quick death. It was really disturbing.”

The puppy, which has been named Olivia, is making progress but still has a long recovery, Reid said.

“I see the worst of the worst every day, but somebody that’s capable of doing something like that is somebody the public needs to be very concerned about,” she said. “It’s really disturbing because this kind of cruelty is a precursor of what’s to come.”

The vehicle from which the pup was thrown is described as a white, older-model Ford Explorer with black rims and tinted windows, Reid said.

The Richland County Sheriff’s Department is assigning the case to an investigator.

Reid said Valiant, a Charleston-based agency, is offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of the person responsible.

This story was originally published February 23, 2017 at 3:16 PM with the headline "Puppy tied up, thrown from moving vehicle in northeast Richland."