Dog dead after being thrown off bridge

By Nick LaFave & photojournalist Harry Baker, FOX 21 News

OLIVER - A dog is dead after someone threw it from the Oliver Bridge over the weekend.

Now, a family is struggling with two questions - who did it... And far more confusing... why?

Bob Mittlestad mows a lawn that used to have a family dog running through it every day.

"My girlfriend is really shook up.  Still all shook up by it."

Over the weekend, their chocolate lab, Bella got out of the house when they left the door open.  She was playing a neighbors house for short while... and then took off.

Shortly after, that neighbor was listening to her police scanner.

"We heard that a dog had been thrown off the oliver bridge."

Barb King ran the block and a half to the bridge, beneath which she found two fishermen.

"Said the dog had been thrown over the bridge and landed at their feet on the rocks," said King.

Alive, but badly hurt, Barb rushed Bella to an emergency vet.  Her back was broken.

"She was in pain.  She was in a lot of pain.  They had to put her down pretty quick.  Because there wasn't anything they could do."

If you can believe it there is another sad chapter to Bella's life.  Not only did she have a tragic end... But, she also had a tragic beginning.

"Somebody found it in the road in Duluth on a 30 below zero day," says Mittlestad.

That was nine months ago when bella was a puppy.  Barely a grown dog when she died, everyone is asking, "why?"

"There absolutely cannot be a reason why this dog was thrown off a bridge other than complete cruelty," says King.

"Everybody asking me what kind of a person does something like that," says Mittlestad.  "Nobody's got an answer for that."

If you have any information, the Douglas County Sheriff's Office asks that you contact them at 715-395-1371.