Woman IDs stolen dog by its bark in Facebook video of Missouri junk lot

A Missouri dog owner located her stolen pooch after hearing its “unique bark” in the background of a Facebook video exposing an accused pet thief’s squalid property full of horribly abused pets, police said.

Authorities in Lawrence County raided a junk-covered lot Tuesday after a vigilante pet detective investigating a suspected dog theft discovered scores of trapped, terrified animals locked in tiny cages and even crammed into a dilapidated school bus.

The hero sleuth, 37-year-old Melanie Self, posted video of the property on Facebook — and one dog owner was shocked to hear the distinctive bark of her missing Catahoula leopard dog in the background.

“She saw my videos and sent photos and said, ‘Did you find this dog?'” Self told The Post. “I said, ‘I’m like 70, 80 percent sure. You definitely need to contact the humane society about it.”

Authorities charged the property owner — 70-year-old Susan Berry — with animal neglect and felony animal theft; a probable cause statement claimed the dog’s “unique bark” indeed helped the owner recognize her missing pooch.

But Self believes the prodigal Catahoula wasn’t the only stolen dog on Berry’s property.

“Around twenty different people have contacted me in that area asking if we found their dogs,” she said, explaining that residents of the small, rural community had reported their dogs lost or stolen for months before the raid.

Self has worked as a pet vigilante for around four years, starting when she helped rescue a litter of trapped puppies. And when she heard a report of Susan Berry tearing down missing posters for two lost Dalmatians, she and her husband drove out to the property to investigate.

“[At the property line] I called the Dalmations’ names, and I just heard an unimaginable amount of barks. When I heard that, I told my husband, ‘Oh my god, we have to get on that property,” Self recalled.

The canine gumshoes met Berry’s husband outside and asked for water for her “overheating” car. The man told them to take a jug from the back lot and walked away — giving them free rein of the lot.

They came upon a horrific scene: dilapidated vehicles, piles of junk and trash as high as their heads, and among them, scores of filthy, terrified dogs in cages.

“There were dead dogs. There were dogs’ bones found in enclosures. I remember the feeling more than the sight. The feeling of sorrow and suffering,” Self said.

She also saw a horse penned up with no food or water, and an abandoned school bus crammed full of dogs, Self claimed.

Two weeks later, on Tuesday, officers from the sheriff’s department and the Missouri Humane Society rescued more than 100 animals, including goats, cats, chickens, and horses.

“The animals will be transported to our shelters where they will receive emergency veterinary care. The rescue is ongoing, and the total number of animals recovered is not yet known,” the Humane Society said in a social media post.

Berry is not currently listed in the Lawrence County Jail roster, and the sheriff’ ‘s office did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment. Self said Berry and her husband’s cars are gone and believes they fled their property.

But Self — who works as an accountant when she’s not pet sleuthing — is just happy the animals are safe.

For those that aren’t reunited with their owners, she plans to adopt one or two herself, she said.

“I have never felt more accomplished sitting behind any desk, as I did when those dogs were freed. The feeling is indescribable,” she said.