Animal abuse investigators say they still have no leads in the case of two severed dog paws found at the Fiddler’s Green Golf Course in northwest Eugene.
A groundskeeper at the golf course, adjacent to Highway 99, discovered one paw near the 15th green and the other near an irrigation control box. After analyzing the paws, which were found Saturday, Lane County Animal Regulation authority manager Mike Wellington said the animal was likely a longhaired dog, such as a Golden Retriever.
The LCARA, which has investigated only a few animal mutilation cases in the past several years, has since been searching listings of lost dogs and interviewing nearby residents in an attempt to identify the dog and locate witnesses.
Wellington said the paws, one front paw and one back paw, seemed to have been surgically removed.
“It was a very clean, clean extraction of the two paws,” he said, adding that the bone appeared to have been sawed. “It shows that somebody took a lot of time doing this.”
Wellington said the LCARA was concerned by the meticulousness with which the paws were severed.
“It follows suit with many of the major serial killers,” he said.
On the other hand, Wellington said the paws were possibly the remains of a dog kept by the pet’s owner as mementos.
Though some people keep locks of hair from deceased pets and occasionally have beloved animals stuffed, a person keeping dismembered body parts for sentimental reasons is farfetched, said Russ Bankel, a Greenhill Human Society official.
“This is obviously something we want to keep track of in case it pops up again,” Bankel said of the dismemberment.
Bankel said the ritualistic mutilations of dogs typically target “dogs of power and strength” and usually don’t target shaggy domestic dogs such as Golden Retrievers.
“It’s obvious somebody wanted to send some sort of message, but it’s unclear what that message is,” he said.
The LCARA is asking anyone with information regarding the paws to call 682-3645.