Police have launched an investigation after two dogs were stolen from a home in Clanwilliam, Man. and brutally beaten.

Nicole Inkster said she and her husband noticed on Oct. 19 her dogs Duke, a Norwegian Elkhound Husky Cross, and Duchess, a Norwegian Elkhound Border Collie Cross, were missing. Inkster and her husband were planning to go into Minnedosa, about 13 kilometres away, and went to check on their dogs outside.

“Just by the looks of how our yard looked and finding what we found in the backyard, we kind of fell apart,” Inkster said Wednesday.

Inkster said it looked like someone had driven through their yard with a truck. She said Duke’s leash looked like it had been damaged with an angle grinder, and there was blood in two different spot near Duchess’s leash.

She said a plastic doghouse, which was being used while another one was being built, looked like it had been run over.

Her third dog, and English Mastiff named Pepper, was still in a doghouse, which was flipped on its side.

“I assumed right there they were going to be deceased, and I wouldn’t even know where to look,” Inkster said.

After days of searching for the pups, Inkster got a call on Oct. 23 saying a dog had been found in a ditch just west of Clanwilliam.

Inkster and some of her family found Duke in the ditch and took him to a vet in Brandon.

She said Duke was hit so hard on his head that he has broken facial tissue and one of his eyes protruded. He also has a bruised leg, which may have to be removed depending on how it heals.

Inkster and her family then went back to where Duke was found, so they could search for Duchess. They found the pup dead and covered with grass about 200 metres from where Duke has been found.

“I broke down. My heart was in so much pain. I was shaking, I was crying,” Inkster said.

“I was at that point where I didn’t know what to do. Knowing that we went those couple of days not knowing if they were dead or alive was very hard.”

Duchess was sent to a Winnipeg veterinarian for a necropsy.

Inkster said she doesn’t know who could be responsible for the incident.

“It just means that obviously somebody, whoever it is, is trying to hurt my family. I don’t know why. I don’t know if we’re specifically targeted, or if this is an act of randomness. It’s hard to say for sure,” she said.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Minnedosa RCMP at 204-867-2916 or Manitoba Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-8477.