Investigators are seeking the public’s help in locating the owner of a dog with bone cancer that was abandoned on the side of the road in Columbia County last week.

The canine was left on the side of Route 23 in the Craryville hamlet of the town of Copake on Thursday evening, according to the Columbia-Greene Humane Society/SPCA. The dog, a Cane Corso, was subsequently put down because was suffering from bone cancer.

The canine, which has been named Barney, was spotted by a passerby. The person thought that Barney may have been hit by a car because he couldn’t place weight on one of his front legs. The leg was swollen and causing the dog pain. Copake’s dog control officer was called, and Barney was rushed to a veterinarian.

Investigators believe that Barney’s owner knew his condition and did not want to seek proper medical attention or reach out for assistance, so they abandoned the dog on the side of the road.

“This is one of the most shameful, cowardly acts of cruelty one can do to an animal,” said Ron Perez, president/investigator with the CGHS/SPCA, in a statement. “In their most desperate time of need, to abandon an animal on the side of the road – in Barney’s case, knowing the painful condition that he was suffering from – is unconscionable and shows depraved indifference to this dog.”

Anyone with information pertaining to Barney, please contact the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office at 518-828-0601.