‘I was sobbing’: Bend hikers find dead cat, doe, dog and fox in Badlands Wilderness

(Update: Adding video, comments by couple)

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- On Monday night, during their nightly walk in the Badlands Wilderness area east of Bend, a Bend couple encountered something that brought them to tears.

Sampson Sansgaard and Tonya Ross say they found a dead, cat, pregnant doe, dog (a younger, female pit bull) and a fox, in the same spot.

“Very upsetting," Ross told NewsChannel 21 Tuesday. "It’s very sad, and it’s disturbing.”

Sansgaard told NewsChannel 21 the dead animals were not there the night before, and there were "fresh tire tracks" near the animals' bodies, with no signs of roadkill or bloating.

“I did not respond well to the sight of it," Sansgaard explained, standing near the spot where he found the animals. "I was sobbing. That didn’t need to happen to them."

The couple reported the discovery to the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, which then informed Oregon State Police.

“I don’t want to remember this ever again," Sansgaard said. "So I probably won’t come back much any more. It’s not a good memory for anybody to have.”

NewsChannel 21 has reached out to OSP for any information or word of an investigation.