A Portuguese podengo hunting dog found shot in the woods of Nasketucket Bay State Reservation this week is an upsetting discovery for Mattapoisett Animal Control Officer Kathy Massey and she hopes people will consider giving their animals to a shelter instead.

Massey said someone found the dog on a deer trail, and she believes it may have been killed because it wasn’t a good hunter.

While Massey said that it’s not illegal, she certainly isn’t endorsing the action, and she called in the Environmental Police to investigate. The person who discovered the dog moved it to a main trail at the park, so the police could not gather any information from the site where it was found.

Massey said she hopes people will call her if they have an animal they no longer want.

“Send them over to me. If they don’t hunt, we’ll find homes for them,” she said. “They make great family pets.”

Anyone with information or who would like to give away an animal can contact Massey at 508-400-8910.