Police: Owner had released dogs hit by car in Clinton County

VICTOR TWP. – The owner of three dogs found dead last week on a rural road released them into the wild because he could no longer keep them at his home, police said.

The owner told investigators he tried to place his four dogs, including the three killed by a vehicle near Sleepy Hollow State Park, with animal shelters in two other counties, Clinton County Sheriff Wayne Kangas said.

The shelters refused to take the dogs, so the man and his friend drove them to the area and let them go, he said.

“They tried in their minds to do the right thing,” Kangas said. “They thought that was the only recourse they had. It was just not a good decision.”

Three of the Labrador-mix dogs were discovered dead late Thursday morning on Upton Road, north of Jason Road. The fourth dog was found nearby and had suffered some trauma but is recovering at the county animal shelter, Kangas said.

Investigators don’t know whether a driver hit the dogs intentionally or accidentally, the sheriff said. They are still looking for information about who might have hit the dogs, he said.

The dogs’ owner could no longer keep the animals at the home he was renting and brought them to his friend’s apartment in Bath Township, Kangas said. The dogs weren’t allowed to stay there, either.

They tried to place the dogs at shelters in Shiawassee and Ingham counties before deciding to release them, Kangas said. They also tried a Humane Society shelter, which couldn’t take the dogs because it was full, he said. For reasons that were unclear, the dogs’ owner did not try the Clinton County shelter, Kangas said.

The Ingham County Animal Control shelter has an open-admission policy but doesn’t accept animals from other counties, Interim Director Jodi LeBombard said.

LeBombard said she was unable to confirm that the dogs’ owner contacted her shelter, although staff vaguely recalled someone from Clinton County trying to drop off dogs.

It’s not uncommon for pet owners from other counties to try to bring pets to the shelter, she said. In such cases, the owners are directed to the “appropriate county,” she said in an email.

Kangas said the dogs were seen alive in the area the night before three of them were found dead on the road, he said. It’s unclear when they were hit. Investigators are confident the dogs’ owner had nothing to do with them being struck on the road, he said.

Kangas said reports will be forwarded to the prosecutor’s office, which will determine whether criminal charges will be issued, when the investigation is finished.

Christopher Behnan contributed to this report.