HENRICO – Recently, a concerned citizen alerted PETA and the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office to a female dog who was swimming in circles in the Speckle Cove area of Lake Gaston.

Deputy Kevin Byrum, the county’s animal cruelty investigator, reported to the scene and found that the dog, who seemed to be a senior black Labrador retriever, was missing most of her fur, had several tumors hanging from her abdomen, and had an oozing puncture wound on her right side.

Because of her advanced age and terrible condition, she had to be euthanized.

PETA is offering a reward of up to $5,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction on cruelty-to-animals charges of the person or persons responsible for the evident neglect of this suffering dog.

“A dog doesn’t get multiple tumors and lose almost all her fur overnight,” says PETA Senior Vice President of Cruelty Investigations Daphna Nachminovitch. “PETA is calling on anyone with information about this case to come forward immediately so that whoever is responsible for this dog’s terrible longtime neglect can be held accountable.”

Anyone with information about this case is encouraged to call the Northampton County Sheriff’s Office at 252-534-2611 and ask for Deputy Byrum.