Police: Dead dog found in backpack possibly tossed from 65-foot bridge

SUNSET BEACH, NC (WWAY) — A fisherman discovered a dead dog in a backpack in the Intracoastal Waterway and police are now trying to figure out who did it.

Police say the dog could have been tossed from the high bridge.

Kegan Babb says on Saturday afternoon he was magnet fishing with his girlfriend for the first time at the North Carolina Wildlife ramp in Sunset Beach and spotted a backpack in the water.

“We saw a bookbag at the end of the pier and we dropped our magnets down there,” Babb said. “We thought it was fishing gear, but it wasn’t. It was a dead dog.”

Babb says they dropped their magnets in the water to pull it up and were surprised to find a young, female malnourished pitbull inside with two seven and a half pound weights.

“I immediately called 9-1-1 and had a police officer come down here.” Babb said.

Sunset Beach Police Chief Ken Klamar says he’s never dealt with a case of animal cruelty like this.

“They saw a backpack that was visible at low tide,” Klamar said. “They pulled that up to shore and, upon opening the backpack and observing the contents, they noticed that there was a young pitbull dog inside of the backpack.”

Klamar says the dog appeared malnourished and had serious injuries.

“The size of the animal and the size of the backpack and being a dog owner myself…I know it would be very difficult to put a living animal inside of a bag the size of this one without somewhat of a struggle,” Klamar said.

Babb says whoever did this must be caught.

“Dogs are very pure,” Babb said. “They are good and they are good for us so for someone to do something like that is beyond me.”

Monday morning, Babb started a GoFundMe as a reward for anyone who turns in the person behind this animal cruelty.

The crime is affecting many people in this town. A mother and daughter duo have been on the hunt to find the person who did this.

“You have to try and do something about this,” Tasia Kennedy said. “Any evidence that you can get… that’s what we did pretty much all night was Google where the cameras were or if there were any cameras.”

“We are trying to get people involved,” Tamara Kennedy said. “Somebody has to know something.”