The brains of nine dogs were found abandoned near some train tracks in upstate New York, and no knows how or why they got there.
The disturbing incident occurred in the village of Gouverneur in St. Lawrence County.
Residents of the area notified police of what they discovered, and a local veterinarian who examined one of the brains when cops brought it in to the lab to be checked out told 7 News of Watertown, N.Y. that “We measured and weighed the specimen. It comes out to about 70 grams, which would be consistent with a dog sized brain.”
The vet added that the brain appeared to have been surgically extracted by somebody who knew what they were doing from what could be a beagle and that it had been preserved in formaldehyde. “It had been professionally removed and preserved … it was in very good condition, had not been damaged in any way,” he explained to NorthCountrynow.com. After the initial examination of the first brain, he subsequently removed the others from where they had been abandoned on the road.
Cops, who have no leads, have excluded the possibility of foul play in this matter and apparently won’t be investigating any further.
“The nine brains are believed to have been part of a collection for educational or research purposes and no criminal activity, other than littering, is suspected, police said,” Syracuse.com reported .
Based on the photos, a chemistry/biomolecular science professor at a nearby college offered the alternative theory that the brains might have come from sheep.
“Those could also be sheep brains, which are more commonly used in dissection laboratories,” he opined.
Clover Forsythe, who originally posted to Facebook the picture of the nine dog brains on the roadside near the railroad tracks, said that, “We were all really concerned. People do terrible things in this world … I’m glad somebody didn’t actually kill them… We think somebody threw them off the train. It goes by quite often. It’s just a sick prank somebody did. They’ll probably never find who did it.”
Forsythe provided an update on Facebook.
“…The brains were from dogs, and had been well preserved for museum use or possible lab specimens. They contained formaldehyde which preserves the specimen. Although the entire situation is disturbing, breathing a sigh of relief that we don’t have a predator killing dogs, but still creepy that someone would put them there.”
[image credit: Facebook ]
