Butler County Sheriff's Office

[Public Info Officer]

For Immediate Release… April 17, 2007

Skinned Animal was a Coyote

Butler County Sheriff Richard K. Jones and Butler County Prosecutor Robin N. Piper report that an animal found skinned along Four Mile Creek Road in Butler County’s St. Clair Township last month has now officially been identified as a coyote. At the direction of the Animal Friends Humane Society, an initial necropsy (autopsy) was conducted after the animal was first discovered. The animal was believed to be a chow-pit bull mix that had been skinned, and the carcass dumped along the road. That gruesome possibility prompted the offering of rewards to help find the person(s) responsible, possible changes to state law to raise penalties for persons convicted of such offenses, general public outcry, and the start of an intense investigation to determine who was responsible.

At the request of the Butler County Animal Control Chief Vickey Steier, the Butler County Sheriff’s Office joined their investigation within a week of the gruesome discovery. As various tests were being done on the animal, tips and leads received from concerned citizens were investigated. Evidence was collected, and Investigators conducted several interviews. Intense media coverage of the incident helped prompt an individual to step forward giving Sheriff’s Investigators the information needed to positively conclude the animal was a coyote killed by a hunter, who kept it in a freezer prior to skinning it for its pelt and then dumping the carcass.

No criminal charges will be filed in connection with this incident, and the investigation is considered closed. Hunters are reminded and cautioned to properly dispose of animals they legally kill, so that this type of incident is not repeated in the future.

Issued by: Sgt. Monte Mayer
Butler County Sheriff’s Office

Butler County Prosecutor’s Office