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Law enforcement officials in Orange County are looking for information on the illegal dumping of nine dead dogs.

The animals were domesticated, unlike the discovery of the carcasses of hogs and a coyote, that were found approximately a month ago near Cow Bayou.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Office is hoping someone will come forward with information.

Orange Livestock Corporeal Rhett Forsythe said authorities received a report from a woman who saw an abnormal amount of vultures or similar birds and found the dead dogs.

“It’s highly unlikely they are related,” Forsythe said of the Cow Bayou and Interstate 10 turnaround area where the wildlife was found and the private property on Texla Road where the dogs were found.

Forsythe is unsure how the dogs died and no cause of death was immediately obvious.

“The nature of the decomposition was similar for all nine of them,” Forsythe said. “We could say they passed at approximately the same time.”

The Cow Bayou and I-10 turnaround dumping of dead wildlife is not uncommon, Forsythe said.

The initial report was that domesticated animals were being dumped at this location but upon investigation it was learned the animals had been hunted, he said of the hogs, one coyote and fish remains found.

Forsythe said he has been in this job with the county since 2016 and for as long as he can remember, the underpass and area surrounding it has been a dumping spot.

Orange County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Joey Jacobs said the carcasses on Texla Road were affected by either insects or buzzards.

Jacobs described the area they were found, saying it is like a deer lease gravel road with a side gate on either side.

In addition to the animals, household garbage had been dumped, as well.

As to whether the dogs were intentionally killed and dumped or died elsewhere and then left, Jacobs said “it’s horrific and we want to know who’s doing it and why.”

Whether it is a case of animal cruelty or illegal dumping, the sheriff’s office plans to prosecute the person responsible.

Forsythe believes the dogs were intentionally killed because of the state of decomposition.

Anyone with information on the deaths of the nine dogs is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff’s Office or Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas at 409-833-TIPS or by downloading the P3 Tips app on a smart phone. Tips are anonymous and could be eligible for a cash reward.

— Written by Mary Meaux