Ann Arbor, MI (March 27, 2021) — An Ypsilanti family is desperate for answers on what happened to their dog.

Their 12-year-old terrier was found dead on the side of Ecorse Road, just off Michigan Avenue on Monday, March 22. The owners said he’d been missing for four days, last seen at 7 a.m. on Thursday, March 18 at their residence about 2 ½ miles away, in the Ypsilanti area of Chevrolet Street and Zephyr Avenue. He was reportedly in their backyard on a tie-out, and when the family came home from the hospital at 3 p.m. on March 18, the dog was gone; his collar was unbuckled, yet still attached to the tie-out.

According to the family, after searching for him and posting online, someone on Facebook mentioned they’d seen a deceased pitbull on the overpass near the guardrails. Originally suspecting their dog Tyson, whom they describe as friendly, had been hit by a car, the owners were even more upset to see that the dog may have been apparently intentionally harmed, and called the Humane Society of Huron Valley (HSHV) Animal Cruelty Investigators.

HSHV Investigators found no blood on the road or other typical signs that the dog may have been hit by a car. A postmortem veterinary examination revealed three large, deep lacerations in different areas of his body, a skull fracture, and a small, round puncture hole in the skin directly in the center on top of the head—suspicious for a bullet entry wound, but unconfirmed.

HSHV is looking for any leads.

“These weren’t stabs,” says Melinda Szabelski, HSHV’s Animal Cruelty and Rescue Supervisor. “One of the gashes is bigger than my two hands put together, and another reveals his skull.”

If you know anything, please contact HSHV’s Cruelty Investigation hotline at 734-661-3560.
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Family photos of Tyson