A stray dog massacred 23 newly hatched sea turtles on a North Florida beach just hours after the babies emerged from their nests, sparking calls for locals to leash their pets.

The tiny carcasses were discovered during a routine survey by the Beaches Sea Turtle Patrol in Atlantic Beach, officials announced in an August 21 Facebook post.

The slaughter occurred near Second Street as the vulnerable hatchlings made their first desperate crawl toward the ocean, investigators say.

Evidence at the gruesome scene pointed to an unleashed pet as the culprit behind the carnage. 4

“Twenty-three sea turtle hatchlings … found dead near Second Street in Atlantic Beach likely were killed by an unleashed dog as the hatchlings emerged from their nest,” Atlantic Beach officials reported.

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