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Editor's Note: Some viewers may found the pictures of the dog graphic and offensive.SPANISH FORK — Police are investigating a disturbing case of animal abuse after a man's two dogs went missing and a stranger wrongfully claimed one of the pets.
McKay Stirland lost his two dogs in Spanish Fork, but another neighbor found them. However, a man who called himself "Kenny" claimed that one of the dogs belonged to him. When the dog, Mattie, was finally returned to Stirling — the rightful owner — the pet was horribly abused.
"I kept staring at her because I kept thinking, 'This can't be real. This can't be real,' " Stirland said.
Stirland said Mattie was a healthy, 8-year-old Yorkie before she went missing. When Stirland retrieved her, she was unresponsive, had blood in her eyes and was breathing heavily.
"You could pick up her leg and it would just drop," he said.
Stirland also discovered scald marks all over her body and layers of skin burned off. He said the man who called himself Kenny said his daughter was giving her a bath and the water was too hot.
Mattie was taken to an emergency pet hospital where Stirland was told by veterinarians, she had blunt force trauma to the head or had been strangled.
"When they told us the results of the examination, it was sickening," Stirland said.
Stirland said his family would have needed to pay thousands of dollars to help restore Mattie to health, and even then she would still have brain damage. They chose to euthanize their beloved pet. A necropsy confirmed the diagnoses.
The neighbor who first found the missing dog in his yard didn't want to go on camera, but he did send the text messages exchanged between himself and "Kenny" to Stirland.
In one text, Kenny claims he thought the Yorkie was his dog named AJ who went missing.
Stirland said he has a text he wants to send in reply to the man: "You cannot treat animals this way. You cannot be cruel to them and get away with it."
"Kenny" is described as a white male in his mid-50s who walks with a limp. He was driving a black suburban with chrome wheels and the window on the driver's side was covered in plastic.
Spanish Fork police said they aren't releasing any information until later this week, but they are investigating the case.
