SUPERIOR TOWNSHIP, Michigan (AP) -- At first, piles of skinned animals, mostly foxes and coyotes, turned up on the edges of dirt roads in this semi-rural community outside Ann Arbor.Though gruesome, they looked like little more than the work of a sloppy trapper too lazy to properly dispose of the carcasses.
Things took a more shocking turn on March 16, when what appeared to be someone's pet was found along with more skinned coyotes. The Rottweiler had been decapitated and its feet were bound with duct tape.
Since then, eight more dead dogs, including three without heads, have been discovered by residents and investigators with the Humane Society of Huron Valley.
Despite a reward that has swelled to at least $18,000 with donations from community members, officials have so far been unable to determine even who the dogs belonged to.
The mysterious dog deaths -- now being investigated separately from the wild animal carcasses -- have rattled this picturesque Washtenaw County township, dominated by empty fields and wooded preserves and dotted with old, red barns.
Residents are keeping a close eye on their pets, and some have voiced fears that whoever is capable of killing and mutilating dogs is a danger to humans as well.
The community's outrage was on display recently on Vreeland Road, near the site where a medium-sized yellow dog, thought to be some kind of terrier, was found March 22.
"You will be caught! U will be punished U will Burn in Hell by God," read a sign nailed to a tree.
Township resident Kim Hart said she fears Duke, her 2-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback mix, may have fallen victim to the dog killer or killers. He has been missing since February 16.
"There's one really, really disturbed person out there, or a couple of disturbed people," said Hart, 33. "I'm hoping, obviously, that he doesn't have my dog."
Officials initially believed that the dead dogs may have gotten caught in traps, but as more dogs have been discovered, that seems less likely, said Tanya Hilgendorf, the Humane Society's executive director.
The nine dogs include three Rottweilers and three pit bulls. Hilgendorf noted that while both kinds of dogs can make good pets, they also are considered "bully breeds" and can be common "among young men who probably have aggressive tendencies." She declined to say whether that was considered significant to the investigation.
The remaining dogs are a terrier, a Labrador mix and a cocker spaniel.
Hilgendorf said none of the dogs bears signs that they were used in dogfighting and it's not clear whether they are from the area.
Investigators have not matched any of the dogs with those on the Humane Society's missing list, which takes reports from all of Washtenaw County. Hilgendorf said it's hard to draw any conclusions from that, since the decapitations, as well as decomposition, makes identifying the dogs difficult.
If they are being brought in from somewhere else, Superior Township would make a good place to drop off evidence of illicit activity. The 36-square-mile township of about 11,000 people is a rural oasis surrounded by rapid development. However, whoever dumped the dogs made little effort to hide them, dumping them on the roadside.
Willful and malicious infliction of injury to animals, including killing, is a felony punishable by up to four years in prison and a $5,000 fine.
Until anyone is charged with the crimes, Hart is taking no chances with her remaining dog, 10-year-old Daisy, who is being kept on a cable.
"I don't want to take a chance of anything happening and somebody just trying to grab her," Hart said. "I'm just very protective, and this is exactly why."