The Santa Clarita Valley Sheriff’s Station released an update regarding the severed dog heads recently found in local neighborhoods.

The full statement below is from the Station’s social media account.

“We wanted to update the community on investigations spurred by the discovery of two severed dog heads that were found by citizens in local neighborhoods earlier this month and reported to our station. In one of the incidents, the head was found placed underneath a ‘Lost Dog’ flier.

“These discoveries were concerning to us, as they were to many community members. Suspicious Circumstances reports were taken and a full investigation by our detectives was launched. During their field investigation, detectives made contact with a few local workers who admitted that they had found the ‘dog heads’ in an area where coyotes and/or other wild animals are known to frequent.

“Their intentions were to inform parties what had happened to their pets, and meant no harm. They just thought ‘people would want to know.’ Although not a crime, detectives counseled the workers that it was in poor taste to do so, and their actions were upsetting to our community who feared acts of animal cruelty were being committed.

“Through the investigation, detectives conferred with experts in the field on a statewide level, in the examination of the found dog heads. The overall consensus from the experts was unanimous in the professional opinion that the dogs had been killed by a wild animal.

“We hope these findings put a lot of minds at ease. Our mission is not only protect people and property, but pets too.”