Photo: Google Maps

A dog was found dead in a backyard in the area of Upper Bench Road in Penticton on Tuesday night.

A Penticton resident found his dog fatally wounded in his backyard on Upper Bench Road on Tuesday night.

The dog was rushed to a Kelowna vet, where the difficult decision was made to put the canine down. The death was reported to the Conservation Officer Service on Wednesday morning.

Officer Mike Stern said the dog's cause of death is undetermined.

He added that while the canine may have been attacked, it likely wasn't attacked by a predator — such as a cougar, coyote or wolf.

Stern could only speculate as to what type of animal the dog's wounds may have come from.

The dog's death became known online, sparking concerns that it may have been killed by a cougar.

Stern did confirm that no cougar has been spotted in the area of Upper Bench Road, and that there's no risk of harm to the public relating to the nature of the dog's death.

"One of the things people need to be cognizant of, when things are posted on multimedia... sightings of wildlife, such as a cougar, need to verified," he emphasized.

Coincidently, the City of Penticton did put out a warning on its Facebook page on Wednesday morning about a cougar suspected to be in the Ellis Creek area.

About five hours later, the city followed up saying no cougar was present in the area, following further examination.

*A previous version of this story indicated the dog was found deceased. In fact, the dog was found seriously injured and put down at a veterinarian clinic.