SKOWHEGAN — A dog taken to the Somerset Animal Shelter last week was so badly abused and neglected it was euthanized the same day.

Shelter manager Hattie Spaulding said she wants to find out who owned the small female poodle so the shelter can pursue animal cruelty charges.

“When I saw her I thought she was dead,” Spaulding said Monday. “Her eyes were matted shut with feces; one side of her face was the same way, so she couldn’t eat. The dog’s nails were very, very long and curled right around, and there were tumors on her stomach. She was nothing but bones.”

Spaulding said the dog was taken to the shelter by Skowhegan police Officer Josh King on Thursday morning. The animal was found, unable to walk, at the Woodland Mobile Home Park on Dr. Mann Road and taken to the police station.

Police Chief Michael Emmons said King was off duty Monday and would resume his investigation later this week.

Shelter worker Chelsea Gardiner said she took the dog to veterinarian Michael Wing, who concluded the dog suffered from chronic neglect, flea infestation and paralysis. He determined the dog was about 8 years old.

“He said she had been that way awhile and that she definitely was suffering,” Gardiner said.

Gardiner said the dog couldn’t walk and wasn’t able to escape her living conditions.

“Wherever she was found, she was placed there,” she said.

Spaulding asked that anyone with information about the black and white poodle call police at 474-6908 or the shelter at 474-6493.

Doug Harlow — 612-2367
dharlow@centralmaine.com