PLEASANT GROVE — Police announced they have laid to rest the remains of a dog found dead on a leash outside a Pleasant Grove home where a deceased man was discovered last week.
The dog was a chihuahua that at one time had been adopted from a shelter, the Pleasant Grove Police Department said in a Facebook post Thursday. Officers came to call the dog "Puppy Doe," according to the post, which included a photo of a wooden box engraved with the nickname.
A pet cremation service paid for the cost of laying the dog to rest, the department wrote.
"As humans, we largely get to make our own decisions. Unfortunately, animals are totally dependent on us for their health and survival. We hope 'Puppy Doe' aka 'Pee Dee' is barking in a much better place now," the department said in the post.
Thursday's post did not include updates about the man found dead at the home. Although police believe they know the identity of the deceased man, they have said that identifying him will be difficult because forensic examiners will need to rely on dental records due to the body's advanced decomposition.
On August 21, code enforcement officers went to a house at 45 E. 100 North to try and locate the owner to talk about his very unkept yard, according to police. Officers had reportedly been trying to contact the homeowner for months.
But when officials went to the door leading to the room where the body, believed to be a man, was found, there were "suspicious objects" attached to the door, said Pleasant Grove Police Lt. Britt Smith. Based on previous threats the man who lived in the house had made to law enforcement, including some threats involving explosives, a bomb squad was called to the house, he said.
The skeletal remains of "Puppy Doe" were also found in the yard.
"Please remember to bring your pets indoors during extreme weather (cold and heat) and provide plenty of fresh water and shelter when they are outside," the department said Thursday.