Police officer charged after dog abused, abandoned in trash bag

PHILADELPHIA -- A Philadelphia police officer has been arrested after investigators say he abandoned his dog and left her for dead in a trash bag.

He is identified as 33-year-old Michael Long, an 11-year veteran assigned to the 18th District.

"For somebody like that to be actually perpetrating the crime is something that really gets to me," said Nicole Wilson, Pennsylvania SPCA.

The Director of Humane Law enforcement says it was back on November 23, 2016, that a Good Samaritan and her dog stumbled upon the Pit Bull dumped in a trash bag off the beaten path in Philadelphia's Wissahickon Valley Park.

Barbara Adams says she was walking her Springer Spaniel named Sansom when he began tugging at her.

"I was actually looking out over the woods. When I turned around, my dog was hunched down and looking at a trash bag," said Adams.

There sticking out of a trash bag was a dog's nose.

"I was absolutely horrified, more horrified when I opened the bag and saw the condition that was she was in," said Adams.

The dog was virtually skin and bones, severely emaciated and barely alive. Adams called the SPCA.

"She was immediately hooked up to IVs, and it took a significant amount of time to be able to rehabilitate her," said Wilson.

It took months to bring her back to good health. Investigators say it turns out the dog - they have since named Cranberry - had been microchipped, and that chip led them to Long, who had adopted the dog only months earlier.

"We then recovered additional evidence inside his home that actually linked the items that were found with Cranberry back to that home," said Wilson.

"It is very disappointing to hear that this was a Philadelphia police officer that did this," said Adams.

Action News obtained video of Cranberry running around outside her new home in the Malvern area where she was adopted by a loving family.

"And I'm happy to report that now she spends her days as a couch potato enjoying life in her suburban home," said Wilson.

And as for the Good Samaritan and her dog Sansom that found Cranberry?

"I'm happy that I was able to help save her," said Adams.

"And so is Sansom?" asked reporter Dann Cuellar.

"Yes, absolutely. He got lots of treats," she said.

Officer Long has been suspended for 30 days with the intent to dismiss by Police Commissioner Richard Ross.

He faces two counts of animal cruelty and related offenses.