Several dog carcasses have washed ashore in Ostend and Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast since the end of November, leaving police perplexed and calling for witnesses.
As many as six dead dogs have washed up in recent weeks. The matter was first made public on 6 December when Ostend Police issued a press release stating that three bodies of dogs washed up on Oosteroever.
The first body is thought to have been stranded between 13 and 19 November, while the others were found on 21 November and 2 December respectively. In each case, they were fairly young animals that were not chipped. The dogs appear to be of a similar breed, but due to the state of decomposition, the exact breed is not entirely clear.
The police called for witnesses who had seen suspicious behaviour, but this initial call for witnesses yielded no breakthrough for now.
Translation of post: "Call for witnesses: three washed-up dead dogs at short notice near the Spinola embankment. Know of more, have you seen anything or noticed any suspicious behaviour? Get in touch via pz.oostende.omgevingshandhaving@police.belgium.eu."
In recent days, another three dog carcasses have washed ashore again: two in Ostend and one in Nieuwpoort, around half an hour's drive to the west of Ostend. Ostend Police is making a new appeal for witnesses.
The fourth dead dog was found on the beach in Nieuwpoort-Bad on 17 December. One day later, another dog corpse washed up along the Sir Winston Churchillkaai in Ostend. Finally, a sixth corpse turned up on Wednesday along the Halve Maandijk, between the HMS Vindictive Memorial and the Eastern Breakwater.
It once again concerned young animals of presumably the same breed and again, they were not chipped.
Local police are investigating the case and are currently keeping all avenues open. However, investigators notice that no one has reported a missing pet. People with information on the situation have been asked to contact pz.oostende.omgevingshandhaving@police.belgium.eu.
