At least 7 dogs have been found, or brought to local shelters, with what appears to be chemical burns on their backs. The L.A. County Board of Supervisors is offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and/or conviction of a suspect in connection with apparent chemical attacks involving domestic dogs in the Antelope Valley and surrounding communities. (Photo courtesy of Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department) 
 
 Los Angeles County officials hope a $25,000 reward will help solve the mystery of who is chemically burning dogs in the Antelope Valley. 
 
 The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved Tuesday Supervisor Michael Antonovich’s request to offer a $25,000 reward for information about the dogs that leads to the perpetrator. 
 
 A golden retriever and at least six pit bulls were found in the past year in Lancaster, Palmdale and Rosamond in Kern County with chemical burns. A golden retriever, named Fergus, suffered from third-degree burns on its neck and back was brought to the Lancaster animal shelter Aug. 11 and subsequently turned over to the Animal Medical Center of Southern California in West Los Angeles. 
 
 The Sheriff’s Department and the county Department of Animal Care and Control are investigating a number of incidents of suspected animal cruelty. Investigators are trying to determine if the injuries are accidental or are intentional crimes. 
 
 The reward offer is contingent on providing information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible. 
 
 “We hope that the reward will encourage someone that may have heard something to step forward with information that may lead us to the person who committed these really depraved acts of cruelty,” Antonovich spokesman Tony Bell said. 
 
 Sheriff’s officials encouraged members of the public to report similar acts of animal cruelty. 
 
 People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals has offered a $2,500 reward in this case. A GoFundMe page has also raised $25,000 as of Tuesday. 
 
 Anyone with information is asked to call investigator Rachel Montez-Kemp at L.A. County Animal Care and Control at 661-974-8096 or Deputy Daniel Gore at the Lancaster Sheriff’s Station at 661-940-3851 or 661-948-8466. 
 
 To provide information anonymously, call “Crime Stoppers” at 800-222-TIPS (8477), or text the letters TIPLA plus the tip to CRIMES (274637) or at http://lacrimestoppers.org. ||||| People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals offered a $2,500 reward Thursday for information leading to the person or people who severely burned a golden retriever, possibly with battery acid, in the Lancaster area. 
 
 “It takes a dangerous lack of empathy to pour acid on a dog and leave him for dead on the side of the road,” PETA Senior Director Colleen O’Brien said. “PETA is urging anyone with information about this case to come forward now before anyone else is hurt.” 
 
 The dog, who has been named “Fergus,” was brought to a Lancaster animal shelter Aug. 11 and subsequently turned over to the Animal Medical Center of Southern California in West Los Angeles for treatment, with the help of the Southern California Golden Retriever Rescue Group. 
 
 Fergus was apparently taken to the shelter by a good Samaritan who found the wounded animal suffering from severe burns on its head and back. 
 
 Los Angeles County sheriff’s officials have begun an investigation in hopes of finding the person or people responsible. Three other dogs have been found with similar injuries in recent weeks, at least two of them also in the Antelope Valley, although investigators have not officially linked the cases. Two of the other dogs have died. 
 
 Doctors at the Animal Medical Center said Fergus is making an almost miraculous recovery. 
 
 NBC4 reported Wednesday that one of its viewers had offered a $2,000 reward for information leading to the suspect or suspects. 
 
 Los Angeles County Supervisor Mike Antonovich said he will ask his board colleagues on Sept. 1 to approve a $10,000 reward. 
 
 “With this reward, we hope to encourage the public to come forth with any information that will help us identify, apprehend and prosecute whomever is responsible for these depraved acts of cruelty,” he said. 
 
 A Gofundme page was set up by the Golden Retriever Rescue Group in hopes of raising $10,000 to cover the dog’s medical costs. As of midday Thursday, more than $19,000 had already been raised. Rescue Group officials said excess funds will be used to assist other dogs in the group’s care. ||||| The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich ’s motion for the reward in connection with at least seven attacks since July on dogs in both L.A. and Kern counties. Dogs have been found with long burns on their back. Authorities believe they may be caused by a caustic chemical. Two of the dogs were so severely injured that they were euthanized. ||||| A Southern California man has been charged with murder in the death of a 63-year-old woman who was mauled to death by a pack of pit bulls earlier this month. 
 
 Alex Donald Jackson, 29, was arrested Thursday morning and charged with one count of murder in the fatal mauling of 63-year-old Pamela Devitt, who was out for a jog in the Mojave desert on May 9 when she was attacked. Passing motorists witnessed the mauling and called 911. 
 
 "When the deputy showed up, Dewitt was still alive. Paramedics thought she would live," Lt. John Corina of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department's Homicide Division told ABCNews.com. But she died on the way to the hospital, Corina said. 
 
 An autopsy revealed that Devitt had died of blood loss attributed to sharp-force trauma. She sustained approximately 150 to 200 puncture wounds, Corina said. 
 
 When an officer arrived at the scene, one of the dogs was still mauling Devitt, according to Corina. The deputy approached, and the dog ran off but soon turned around and came at the officer. He fired a shot, and the dog ran off again, only to turn around a moment later and come at the officer a second time. The officer fired a second shot, and the dog again took off, Corina said. 
 
 Acting on information, sheriff' and animal-control officials obtained a warrant and searched Jackson's home, located about a block from the site of the attack. Eight dogs, six pit bulls and two mixed-breeds, were taken from the home. 
 
 Jackson will be arraigned Friday at Los Angeles Superior Court, according to a statement from the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. He's being held on $1 million bail. 
 
 Deputy District Attorney Samantha MacDonald said that since January authorities had received at least three other reports of Jackson's pit bulls attacking people. 
 
 Corina said that the fence around the property was only 3- to 4-feet feet high, and the dogs could easily hop over it. He said that police found other people who had similar stories, and area residents told ABC's Los Angeles station KABC-TV they feared the dogs. 
 
 "It's really scary," Diane Huffman told KABC-TV. "I don't know what to think. I really think I'm going to be getting a gun to protect myself. 
 
 "They'd be walking past the house, and the dogs would attack them or their livestock, he said. "In one instance, they were attacking a guy on a horse. [Jackson} encouraged it. When he tried to stop the dogs, [Jackson] threw rocks at him, and said to leave his dogs alone." 
 
 Jackson, who allegedly ran a marijuana operation at his home, according to the Los Angeles County DA, was also charged with cultivating marijuana, possession of marijuana for sale, possession for sale of a controlled substance, and assault with a deadly weapon. 
 
 Corina said that the dogs, which appear to be of varying ages, were all fully grown. He said that they were currently with the Los Angeles County Department of Animal Control, and would likely be euthanized. ||||| Caitlyn, the abused pit bull mix found in North Charleston a week ago, spent two hours in surgery on Wednesday and veterinarians say they had to take less of her tongue than expected. 
 
 
 
 After the surgery, she rested in her kennel, covered by a blanket and getting attention from the staff at Veterinary Specialty Care in Mount Pleasant who have been providing round-the-clock care for the ailing pup. 
 
 Dr. Henri Bianucci at Veterinary Specialty Care in Mount Pleasant said on Tuesday he thought Caitlyn may lose as much as 25 percent of her tongue during Wednesday's surgery to reconstruct her jaw and take out the dead tissue in her lip and tongue. 
 
 "Her tongue was in way better condition that we anticipated. It was initially assessed that we would lose about a third of her tongue, and we sort of revised that estimate to a fourth, but I don't think she lost an eighth of it," Bianucci said shortly after the surgery. 
 
 He attributed that to the use of the hyperbaric oxygen chamber and the cold laser therapy for helping heal her tongue and lip. 
 
 Bianucci said once Caitlyn's wounds have healed she should be able to do all the things -- like eating and drinking -- she needs to do as she would normally. He added the surgery wounds will take about a week to heal, he estimates, and she will be available for foster care in about 10 days. 
 
 Bianucci said that even though the loss of a quarter of Caitlyn's tongue seems like a lot, dogs are able to compensate even when half of their tongues have been removed. 
 
 "Functionally, I think she'll be able to lap up food and water and do really well," Bianucci said a day before the surgery. 
 
 Bianucci says Caitlyn is responding well to treatment. The team at Veterinary Specialty Care is removing dead tissue from her face every day, he said, adding the hyperbaric treatments are bringing down the swelling. 
 
 The man accused of binding Caitlyn's face with electrical tape remained in the Charleston County Detention Center Tuesday afternoon after being issued a $50,000 bond for ill treatment to animals in the morning. 
 
 The bond court judge told William Leonard Dodson, 41, of Quitman Street in North Charleston that he was not allowed to own pets and ordered to surrender another dog in his home to police. 
 
 Dodson was arrested Monday night and charged with ill treatment of an animal involving torture, North Charleston police spokesman Spencer Pryor said. Dodson's arrest record shows he was out on bond for drug charges at the time Caitlyn was abused. He also shows three previous arrests for not having a driver's license. 
 
 Aldwin Roman, the Charleston Animal Society's Director of Anti-Cruelty & Outreach, said the bond amount was too low. "I don't think $50,000 makes up for all the pain and suffering," he said. 
 
 Roman said he had hoped to speak during the hearing to discuss the amount of damage that had been done to Caitlyn, but the judge set bond quickly and moved to the next case. 
 
 "Her life is not at all going to be easy even after she recovers," Roman said. "She's going to be permanently disfigured and permanently disabled. The damage is done." 
 
 If convicted of ill treatment of an animal, Dodson could face up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. 
 
 "This is the most malicious case of animal abuse I have seen in my entire career," said Roman. "To leave this dog in pain, unable to eat or drink and to now leave her in the position where her life is at stake because she may lose her tongue is heartbreaking." 
 
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 Attention to animal abuse brings calls for stronger laws 
 
 With the Caitlyn case also came attention to the state's laws on animal cruelty. If convicted, Dodson will face a maximum of five years in prison and a $5,000 fine. It's a penalty that many have said is much too light. 
 
 A change.org petition directed at the state Senate calling for stronger penalties had nearly 12,000 signatures Thursday afternoon, about four days after it was created. 
 
 "Provide definitive definitions of animal abuse and all its variations. Hold employers knowledgeable of such acts responsible. Hold legislators and law enforcement agencies accountable for implementing the law," the petition reads. 
 
 And PETA, the international organization for animal rights, called for prosecution and a harsh sentence that included jail time and psychiatric intervention for Dodson, as well as a lifelong ban on owning animals. 
 
 "The photographs of this sweet dog with her muzzle painfully squeezed shut are heartbreaking, and anyone capable of inflicting this much suffering on another living being is dangerous," says PETA Senior Director Martin Mersereau. "For the protection of everyone in the community, PETA is calling for the maximum penalty in this sad caseincluding a lifelong ban on harboring any animals." 
 
 PETA also sent a letter to Ninth Circuit Solicitor Scarlett Wilson to prosecute Dodson fully, citing evidence that people who abuse animals go on to harm people. 
 
 "As you likely know, mental-health professionals and top law-enforcement officials consider animal abuse to be a red flag. The American Psychiatric Association identifies cruelty to animals as one of the diagnostic criteria for conduct disorders," Kristin Simon, PETA's Cruelty Casework Associate Manager, said in the letter.{} 
 
 "The link between animal abuse and interpersonal violence is undeniable, and the safety of the community may depend on a vigorous prosecution of this case." 
 
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 Affidavit contradicts what original owners said last week 
 
 An affidavit released during the bond hearing paints a slightly different picture of what happened to Caitlyn, who had previously been named Diamond. According to the affidavit, Dodson bought Caitlyn on May 25 for $20, but returned the following night to the previous owner to say he had taped the dog's mouth shut because she would not stop barking. 
 
 According to the previous owner, Dodson was laughing when he said he had taped up the dog. 
 
 When ABC News 4 spoke to the former owners last week, they said they did not know who had bought Caitlyn. However, the affidavit shows they had known Dodson for a least a year and said he is "like a brother." 
 
 The people who once cared for Caitlyn told ABC News 4 they contacted Animal Control and gave them information on the man who bought their dog after she was found injured and abused. 
 
 According to the couple, the 15-month-old chocolate Staffordshire terrier mix was a rambunctious puppy who caused damage in their home. The owners said they were afraid they might be evicted and decided they could not give Caitlyn the attention and training she needed. 
 
 The couple says they were in such dire straits that they said they sold her for $10 on Memorial Day after a man offered to buy her. They say it's one of the biggest mistakes they ever made. 
 
 On Wednesday morning, before he left for work, the former owner said he went outside and found the dog had returned to his home. He asked his neighbor to call 911. The resident called the Charleston County 911 dispatch center and painted a picture of a struggling and distressed puppy that had her muzzle taped shut. The dog's tongue was caught between her teeth. 
 
 "I have a dog that's here at my house that I found and the dog's mouth is taped shut with electrical tape, tongue hanging out its mouth, bleeding, and his tongue is completely black," the 911 caller said. "I just don't know what to do." 
 
 Officials said they think the dog was stuck in that painful condition for as many as 48 hours before she was handed off to officials at Charleston Animal Society for care. 
 
 The former owner said he never thought this could happen. 
 
 "No, not ever in my life," he said. "I wouldn't want to see her like that. I mean it kinda upsets me to see her like that." 
 
 The couple says it gave Animal Control the description of the man when contacted by them this week because Caitlyn left the couple's home on Monday in good health and on Wednesday she was found bleeding and with her mouth taped shut. 
 
 "Don't let me find you," the former owner said of the person who hurt the dog. "That's all I can say, don't let me find you because that's part of my family you just did some foul things to." 
 
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 Caitlyn's wounds attract international attention, Toby's Fund benefits 
 
 The dog, named Caitlyn by the Charleston Animal Society, has attracted worldwide attention since she was discovered bleeding with her tongue sticking out last week. 
 
 "This was intentional," said Dr. Kelli Klein of the harm done to Caitlyn. "Someone was trying to hurt her and they did it. They did what they went out to do. Just thankfully someone intervened so she didn't die." 
 
 Officials on Monday said Caitlyn has graduated from intravenous fluids to normal foods and oral medications. One of the most recent photo shows a much happier dog holding a piece of rawhide in her mouth. 
 
 The dog underwent a small surgery on her lip on Sunday but doctors say they are pleased with her progress and delayed plans for tongue surgery to see how well she heals on her own. 
 
 "We have the greatest of hopes for this beautiful girl! Many thanks to the dedicated staff at Veterinary Specialty Care in Mount Pleasant, including Dr. Kelli Klein and Dr. Henri Bianucci," the Animal Society update said. 
 
 Caitlyn, the puppy who has been to focus of hashtags, works of art, thousands of dollars in rewards, and calls for more stringent penalties for animal abusers, has had a whirlwind few days that apparently started Monday when she was sold for $10. 
 
 Late last week Caitlyn started hyperbaric chamber treatments at Mount Pleasant Veterinary Care Specialists in the hopes that she would be able to keep her tongue. 
 
 Bianucci said the hyperbaric chambers are helping animals heal faster and easing the pain so much that they usually come out of the chamber and sleep. 
 
 "It alleviates pain so much that a lot of these dogs go in there with horrible tissue wounds and they just go to sleep," he said. 
 
 The national attention has led to a reward of up to $6,000 for information leading to the identification and arrest of the people responsible. The Humane Society of the United States is contributing $5,000 of that amount. 
 
 "Caitlyn is a friendly dog who may have suffered for days and is now fighting for her life. Anyone capable of such a heartless act of cruelty should be held accountable, and we hope this reward will encourage anyone with information to come forward," said Kimberly Kelly, the South Carolina state director for The HSUS. 
 
 The Charleston Animal Society already announced a $1,000 reward. 
 
 New Jersey artist Janet O'Neil shared with the Animal Society and ABC News 4 her watercolor portrait of Caitlyn. O'Neil says she wanted to help bring awareness to Caitlyn's abuse and help with Toby's Fund, the nonprofit's medical services for stray and abused animals. 
 
 On Sunday, Cleveland Browns Quarterback Conner Shaw took to Twitter to show his support. 
 
 "I will personally add to the reward on finding the person responsible for this cruelty," the former Gamecock QB said. "She deserves a loving home!" 
 
 Since Caitlyn's story spread across the country, Toby's Fund has seen an uptick in the number of donations, officials said, which is important because the Animal Society uses that money for medical treatments of abandoned and abused animals that come into its care. 
 
 ABC News 4 is teaming up with the Charleston Animal Society for the month of June to help them send 200 adult dogs to permanent homes across the country. The campaign is called #IAmCaitlyn. 
 
 And the cast of Southern Charm, the reality show based in Charleston, planned a benefit to raise money for Toby's Fund. The cast will have a party at Republic Reign in downtown Charleston. The $10 cover charge will to go Toby's Fund. 
 
 To help the Animal Society save Caitlyn and others like her, please give to Toby's Fund for medical care at CharlestonAnimalSociety.org.
– Since July, at least seven dogs in and around Los Angeles County have been burned, likely with battery acid or another chemical—and now the county is offering a $25,000 reward for help finding the person or people behind the attacks. Two of the dogs (some of which have also been attacked in Kern County) were euthanized as a result of the attacks, the Los Angeles Times reports. Most of the injured animals have been pit bulls, but a golden retriever was also burned in the attacks, the Los Angeles Daily News reports. Authorities also released a photo of an injured cocker spaniel. "We hope that the reward will encourage someone that may have heard something to step forward with information that may lead us to the person who committed these really depraved acts of cruelty," says a spokesperson for LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich. PETA is also offering a $2,500 reward, the Daily News reports. Money is being raised for at least two of the dogs online; their GoFundMe pages are here and here. (In happier news, these 100 dogs were saved from becoming dinner.)