Police Outraged Over Dog's Beheading

ST. PAUL, Minn. -- A Minnesota teen unwrapped a box that was left on her doorstep -- and found it contained the severed head of her missing dog.

Police in St. Paul said homicide detectives are investigating because of what they describe as an "implied" terrorist threat.

Seventeen-year-old Crystal Brown had been looking for the dog since it wandered away last month. She had visited the animal shelter, put up "missing" posters and gone door to door looking for the Australian shepherd mix before the gift-wrapped box turned up on her doorstep two weeks ago.

"This was so cruel," Brown told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. "This is one sick, twisted person."

Brown's grandmother said the teen "was just hysterical" when she opened it.

"This was extraordinarily heinous," Dale Bartlett, the Humane Society's deputy manager for animal cruelty issues, told the newspaper. "I deal with hundreds and hundreds of cruelty cases each year. When I read about this case, it took my breath away. It's horrible."

The Humane Society of the United States announced Wednesday that it was offering a reward of up to $2,500 for information leading to an arrest and conviction. Anyone with information regarding this case is asked to call St. Paul police at 651-266-5659.

St. Paul police Sgt. Jim Gray told the newspaper that investigators believe the case is an isolated incident and that the person who committed the crime knows the family. "We don't know what the motive would be," Gray said. "It's a terrible thing to do to someone's pet."