MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. — Joseph Palermo said he was horrified when he found the decomposing body of a decapitated dog on Jan. 6 along the Florida Turnpike in southern Miami-Dade County.

Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office deputies, Florida Highway Patrol troopers, and a Florida Department of Transportation crew responded to the Princeton area.

“It’s murder, it’s disgusting, and they need to do something about it,” said Palermo, the founder of Paws 4 Life, a nonprofit organization that rescues abused and neglected dogs.

The body of another decapitated dog raised questions on Dec. 9 in Biscayne Bay, off of Miami’s Morningside area. Both gruesome findings prompted investigations, but neither case has been solved.

“I feel like I’m hitting a brick wall and no matter how many walls I take down, there’s always a new one, and nobody helps,” Palermo said.

M-DSO deputies reported the dog on the Florida Turnpike suffered other injuries aside from the decapitation.

Miami police officers asked the public for help with the “deeply disturbing” case of animal abuse and cruelty after the finding in Biscayne Bay.

Palermo and Anthony Jarquin, a co-founder of Paws 4 Life, believe that the dead dog on the Turnpike was not the victim of a hit-and-run crash.

“I’ve never seen a car clean cut somebody’s head, a dog’s head, anybody, anything like that,” Palermo said. “It’s a clean cut, straight through the neck, straight down, head was nowhere to be found.”

Palermo and Jarquin have been able to help dogs in need in Hialeah.

“They came from Rock Pit, it’s an area where they dump dogs, bait dogs, dead dogs, all types of dogs that are abused,” Palermo said. “We go out there, and we save them.”

In November, they helped save “Warrior,” a dog covered in hundreds of bite wounds.

“The likelihood that he was used in dogfighting as a bait dog is extremely high,” said Dr. Andrew Kushnir, of the Animal Welfare Society, who treated “Warrior,” a survivor living with scars after an adoption into a loving home.

The Paws 4 Life team found other injured dogs, including siblings “Lucky” and “Phoenix.” After attempts to save him, “Lucky” died of a seizure.

Gilda Nunez, of Miami-Dade Animal Services in Doral, said her team has also been monitoring that area in Hialeah. They have responded six times to reports of dog fighting and animal cruelty from November to January, according to Nunez.

“It is alarming. We take all allegations of animal abuse seriously, and if we are advised of the situation immediately, we do try to take action as quickly as we can,” Nunez said, adding that one dog was rescued.

M-DAS, which has seven investigators to focus on animal abuse cases in the county, isn’t the leading agency in the cases of headless dogs that the M-DSO and MPD investigated.

Nunez said it’s because M-DAS was the last to be notified about the gruesome findings. Animal advocates said the agency needs to be more proactive.

“I feel like there’s resources enough to do it, the only thing is actually stepping your foot forward in the door to do it,” Jarquin said.

To report cases to M-DAS, call 311 or submit a service request online at 311 Direct.

Detectives also asked anyone with information about these or other cases to call Miami-Dade County Crime Stoppers at 305-471-8477 to remain anonymous.

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Jacey Birch