Ohio animal rescue center claims inmates with prison program killed dog

Courtesy: Joseph's Legacy

An animal rescue center in Middletown, Ohio says one of their dogs was brutally killed while working in a prison program that pairs rescue dogs with inmates.

The dog, a 4-year-old German Shepherd and Norwegian Elkhound mix named Evie, was found Saturday morning “unresponsive by her handlers and she had passed away,” Joseph’s Legacy, the animal rescue center that placed the pup with Warren Correctional Institution, wrote in an online statement.

A necropsy, an animal autopsy, revealed Evie “died from blunt force trauma to her abdomen causing her liver to hemorrhage and her kidney was also damaged,” Joseph’s Legacy wrote. “We’re all undeniably angered and overwhelmingly upset.”

In a statement to Fox News, Lisa Cantrell, the secretary and board member of Joseph's Legacy, and Meg Melampy, the president and founder of the facility, said they’ve “never had any issues with the program before.”

Read more from FOX NEWS here.