UPDATE: Police Locate Owner of Dog Found Shot to Death in Wallingford Woods

UPDATE, Dec. 4:

Wallingford Police have located the owner of the dog that was found shot to death in the Tyler Mill nature preserve on Thursday and say she is not a suspect in the killing.

Wallingford Police said the dog’s owner is from Chaplin, Conn., which is located in Windham County. The dog had been missing for approximately one week.

The Wallingford Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying who may be responsible for the dog’s death.

The case is being investigated as animal cruelty after a necropsy revealed that the dog suffered before dying, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

Anyone who may have seen the dog within the last week or has information regarding its death is asked to call the Wallingford Police Department at 203-294-2805.

Original post:

A dog was found dead with a gunshot wound through the neck in the Tyler Mill nature preserve in Wallingford on Thursday afternoon, according to the Meriden Record-Journal.

The Record-Journal reports the dog, a female 50-pound shepherd mix with a black muzzle about 1 to 2 years old, was found behind a knoll wrapped in a blue tarp.

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Authorities are actively trying to locate the dog’s owner and it’s currently unknown if the death was malicious or an accidental hunting death, according to the Record-Journal.

Read the full report at the Meriden Record-Journal here.