Stewartville, MN - (KROC-AM News) - A Stewartville woman found her son’s dog dead Thursday night and told officers she suspects someone choked it to death.

The woman told Olmsted County deputies her 13-year-old son’s therapy dog had wandered away from their home around 10:30 PM. The Shorkie was found dead about an hour later at the end of a nearby driveway.

Sheriff’s Office Capt. Scott Behrns says there was no apparent sign it had been run over or any other trauma - and no visible indication it had been choked. But Behrns says it’s possible the dog named Gizmo had been choked. He says the woman said she was going to pay for a necropsy to determine how the 8-month-old dog died.

The woman lives in the 100 block of 23rd St NW.

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