For the fourth time in 12 months, a dead dog has washed ashore in Barrington. 

A Barrington resident called police at about 2:25 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 24, after finding a dead dog washed up on the shoreline near the end of Orchard Avenue. 

Police contacted the Rhode Island Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and requested an examination of the dead dog to see if there were any signs of abuse. 

The grim discovery followed three similar situations that occurred in Barrington about a year ago:

• On April 8, 2024, a dead dog washed up on a local beach. A necropsy revealed that the dog had been shot multiple times. (The RISPCA is offering a $1,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person who killed a dog that washed up on a Barrington Beach.

• On March 11, 2024, a person was walking along a local beach spotted a dead dog that had washed up on the sand. Police said the dog appeared to have been dead for quite some time. The dog was found on a section of shoreline near the Rhode Island Country Club property. At that time, police checked to see if anyone had reported a missing dog in Barrington or any nearby community. Police said a dog had been reported missing in Warwick. 

• On Feb. 28, 2024, a person called the police station after finding a dead dog on a stretch of shoreline near the end of Willow Way. Police described the animal as a small, white cockapoo-type dog.

In addition, last September a Barrington DPW worker found the remains of a dead dog dropped into a leaf bag and discarded at an athletic field on Sowams Road. Barrington Police said the RISPCA took X-rays and found that the dead dog did not have any broken bones nor was there evidence of projectiles.