Investigators find several dogs buried at Amargosa Valley site

The bodies of several dogs were found buried in Amargosa Valley on Thursday, according to the Nye County Sheriff’s Office.

Investigators served a search warrant in Amargosa to excavate what was believed to be possible burial sites.

“During the excavation several bodies of dogs were found in various stages of decomposition,” NCSO said in a video posted on YouTube.

About 300 dogs were seized during an animal cruelty investigation, and Oskana Higgins and Vasili Platunov were arrested on Aug. 22 on suspicion of felony animal abuse and neglect. The sheriff’s office found that Higgins and Platunov kept dozens of dogs stored in a freezer.

Two days later, 25 animals were seized as part of a search warrant served on a Pahrump property.

A petition filed by the sheriff’s office Friday in Nye County District Court said Platunov was suspected of using the dogs for his K9 security business.

The investigation is ongoing and no further information was available.

Contact David Wilson at dwilson@reviewjournal.com. Follow @davidwilson_RJ on Twitter.