Denise asked the animal service officers if she could look in the green bag. They told her she really didn't want to do that. In the bag were the remains of Pepper, her family's beloved 8-year-old dog.

Pepper, a black-and-white Jack Russell mix, had been beaten, skinned and stabbed. He'd only been identified by the blue nylon collar and the gold, bone-shaped tag found near his body. A groundskeeper happened upon the grisly scene early the morning of Sept. 7, near the entrance to the popular Foothill Park in Simi Valley, California.

"I wanted to be sure, so I just squeezed his legs. I knew they were his," Denise later told The Huffington Post, holding back tears. "Pepper was the perfect dog. He gave us so much love."