Marina del Rey 'Decapitated Dog' Turns Out to Be Bloated Raccoon

LOS ANGELES (CNS) - A dead animal that was initially reported to be a decapitated dog found in the water near Ballona Creek near Marina del Rey turned out to be a bloated raccoon, with its head intact, county animal control officials said Wednesday.

Department of Animal Care and Control officials responded to the ocean near the creek earlier this week in response to a report that a decapitated dog was floating in the water, authorities said. The report even led the county Board of Supervisors to include the animal's death in a $10,000 reward offer for information leading to its killer and/or the person who killed a dog that was found lashed to a shovel and drowned on Mother's Beach in Marina del Rey.

But DACC officials said Wednesday that once the allegedly decapitated dog in Ballona Creek was brought to shore, "it was confirmed the body was intact including the head, and the species appears to be a seriously bloated raccoon."

"We take animal cruelty cases very seriously," DACC Director Marcia Mayeda said. "Although we are saddened by the presence of this deceased animal floating in the ocean, we're relieved that this did not turn out to be a decapitated dog as has been widely reported."

DACC officials said the animal was severely bloated and showed a loss of hair, so it has been sent to a pathology lab for a full necropsy to determine a cause of death.

— City News Service, photo via Shutterstock