$5000 reward offered in connection to pitbull hanging case

The Pennsylvania SPCAis offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the people responsible for the death of a pitbull mother found hanging from a fence in the city’s Logan section.

The owner of the female pitbull said the dog, and her two pups went missing onon Tuesday. She was found deadin a neighbor’s yard on the 5100 block of North Marvine Street the next day.

On Thursday, an individual who had them and thought they were strays returned the puppies to their rightful owner after seeing news reports on the incident, a PSPCA spokeswoman said. The investigation into the case of animal cruelty is ongoing.

The 5-year-old mother, called Mama, had two 3-month-old puppies, according to published reports.

RELATED:ASPCA saves the city’s pitbulls

“She was missing all day yesterday, and I went looking for her. I was all day looking for her yesterday,” Latanya Thomas, the dog’s owner, told 6 ABC.

“I think they might have killed her before they put her over that gate,” Thomas said to CBS Philly.

Both PSPCA Humane Law Enforcement Officers and Philadelphia Police were on the scene of the hanging. No information on suspects has been released, and the PSPCA’s officers were on the streets Thursday continuing their investigation and looking into tips.

Anyone with information is urged to call the PSPCA’s cruelty hotline, 866-601-SPCA.

“This is obviously a deliberate act, along with the theft of the animals, so we’re looking for any information regarding this that will help us out,” George Bengal, of PSPCA told CBS Philly.