Puppy succumbs to injuries after four feet cut off by 'human'

SAPANCA

A puppy, who was found by locals with four of its feet cut off by an unidentified person, succumbed to injuries in a western Turkish town on June 15, triggering a social media outcry.

The suffering dog was found by passersby who heard its cries in a wooded area in the Yüzevler neighborhood of Sakarya province’s Sapanca district in the evening of June 13.

Locals, who noticed that all of its four feet were cut off, hospitalized the dog and notified security forces.

Together with the police, the Sapanca Municipality and Sakarya Metropolitan Municipality mobilized forces to identify the person.

The dog was sent to Istanbul for a medical operation, but Doğan News Agency reported late June 15 that it could not be saved.

Dr. Berktuğ Çiftçi, who operated the dog, said that the dog's feet were cut off by an axe or a similar man-made tool.

Social media users called the authorities to find and punish the possible assailant.

"A so-called human has caused the pain and the death of this puppy. We will do everything to find him," Stray Animals Society (SOHAYKO) chairman Yasin Yılmaz tweeted on June 15.