SKOWHEGAN — The manager of the local animal shelter says she needs help finding the owner of a chocolate Labrador retriever that was brought in Thursday looking dangerously malnourished.

The adult, female dog was recovered as a stray by the animal control officer in Corinna, which has a contract agreement with the Somerset Humane Society animal shelter.

“She was vet-checked — she weights 33 pounds,” shelter manager Pat Nelson said Friday. “She should weigh 75. Oh my goodness, she’s just skin and bones — her ribs and her hips are protruding.”

Nelson said the dog, which she calls Cocoa, also appears to suffer from calluses on its elbows and hip bones, possibly from being kept in a small cage on a cement floor.

“The vet said it looked like it had been neglected,” Nelson said. “He thought maybe it had been in a pen because it was covered with feces and urine. She has an open sore on her left front leg. She’s a very sweet little dog.”

Nelson said the dog is been kept away from the other animals at the shelter because if appears it may also have mange, with hair missing around the eyes and nose.

The dog was picked up on Merrill Road in Corinna. Nelson said it’s crime to neglect an animal in such a way and she would like to see someone prosecuted for abuse, neglect and abandonment.

She asked that anyone with information on the dog call the shelter at 474-6493.

Doug Harlow — 474-9534

dharlow@centralmaine.com