Content warning: this story includes details of possible animal abuse that some readers might find disturbing.
The remains of two French bulldogs that went missing on Prince of Wales Island over a month ago were found in a pair of crab pots on Friday.
The dogs belonged to Prince of Wales residents Esther, Kane, and Shane Martin. According to Kane Martin, the dogs disappeared just before Valentine’s Day. He’d taken them to work at a logging operation near Thorne Bay.
“We take the dogs to work with us everyday and they just run back and forth between us while we’re working,” Martin said. “At about 9:30 a.m., we didn’t see them anymore. We figured they just went up and stayed at the pickup but they didn’t. Somebody came by and picked them up.”
Martin said he thinks someone abducted the dogs from Sandy Beach Road near the timber site. They were about a year old.
“They were great little dogs, I mean, just lovable as hell. I’m sure that’s why they just jumped in somebody’s rig with them,” he said.
Martin and his family posted flyers with pictures of the missing dogs – named Whiskey and Yoda. They advertised a $500 reward for their return. After a couple weeks without a lead, they doubled the reward.
About a month later, Alaska Wildlife Troopers were doing routine inspections of shellfish pots around Thorne Bay Harbor. They hauled up two crab pots that each had the remains of a dog in them. Troopers compared photographs and information from the Martins. They identified the dogs as Whiskey and Yoda.
According to Martin, law enforcement dropped the pots back in the water to see if their owner would come back for them, but someone came in the middle of the night and took the pots.
Trooper spokesman Austin McDaniel declined to share more information on the crab pots or their potential owner. He said the case is being investigated and Troopers are attempting to corroborate information from potential witnesses before sharing it with the public.
Martin said he is also offering a $2,500 reward for information on the people involved.
“The troopers told me they thought it was something personal. I mean, there’s only one person on this island that has any kind of vendetta against me at all and it’s not even that much that I know of. I mean, I’ve lived here my whole life,” he said.
Anyone with information regarding the disappearance of the bulldogs are encouraged to contact the Prince Of Wales Trooper Post at 907-826-2291.
