A man who spent six days looking for his missing dog was left an anonymous note in which it said the 10-month-old wolf-dog had been shot and killed for being off its leash on someone else's property.
Chad Stricker said the dog, called Nymeria, disappeared after going on her nightly walk around his 10-acre property with his other dog Ghost.
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Nymeria's, who was blind in one-eye, wore a large tag on her collar with her address, photo and even a description of her personality, in case she ever go out; but as the days passed there was still no sign of the missing pooch.
Speaking to the Sun Herald, Chad, from Pearl River County, Mississippi, said: "I looked every day, multiple times a day. There were some days I came home early from work to look. I posted on social media, asked neighbours and drove up and down roads."
His search came to a tragic end when he opened up his mailbox on Thursday 19 December and found a bag containing the dog's collar and a note from someone claiming to have shot his dog.
The anonymous note read: "I'm sorry to inform you that your dog was shot and killed Saturday night while digging through my garbage.
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"It did not suffer and I did not take pleasure in killing It. There is a county leash law which you should abide by so that I do not have to kill any more of your pets."
Chad said the note left him in tears as he struggled to come to terms with the fact someone had killed his beloved pet.
He told the news outlet: "I was sick to my stomach. To think that someone killed her while we had been out looking for her, for digging in the garbage... An animal is not worth more than your trash or the time to make a phone call?"
Devastated Chad shared a photo of the note on Facebook, alongside a long post in which he blasted the person responsible and said Nymeria was 'one of the sweetest dogs anywhere around and very loving'.
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Chad said he contacted local police, but was told as the dog was on someone else's property there was nothing they can do.
According to the Sun Herald, the leash law in the Pearl River County area requires that dogs be kept on a leash or behind a fence.
Featured Image Credit: Chad Stricker