Remains of four dogs found in vacant Shirley home

The skeletal remains of four dogs were found on the property of a vacant Shirley home early Wednesday afternoon, according to the Suffolk County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

Suffolk SPCA Chief Roy Gross said Brookhaven Town officials were in the process of boarding up the house at 45A Brushwood Dr. when they found the remains of a dead dog in the home and called police.

The body of a second dog was then found in another room, and the skeletons of two dogs were found outside, Gross said.

"It's a disturbing find, obviously, to find the dogs like that," Gross said. "They must have been there for quite some time."

Gross said the two bodies discovered in the home's backyard were found in igloo-type dog houses. He said he could not estimate how long the dogs had been there, but said the SPCA would investigate the animals' deaths for possible criminality, and would perform necropsies on the dogs' remains in hopes of finding out how they died and when.