Boston Police found three dead dogs, bloated from the heatwave, inside a U-Haul van in Mattapan.

The Boston Police Department is treating it as an animal abuse case and is seeking any information members of the public could provide.

Officers were dispatched to the first block of Edgewater Drive in Mattapan just before 9 p.m. Tuesday. Officers wrote in their report that they located the Arizona-plated U-Haul and noticed “a horrid smell coming from the van, and bugs flying around.”

The responding officers looked inside from the rear windows and saw a wire metal dog crate, and the officer “while standing on her tippy toes could only see (1) of the dog’s head inside the crate,” according to the police report. They also saw dog foot between the seats of the van.

An animal control officer arrived on scene and said he saw three dead dogs, “bloated,” according to the report, likely because “there was a heat wave declared in Boston and the last two days have been 90 degrees +.”

U-Haul said that it couldn’t identify where the van was rented without having the reservation number or the phone number on file for the reservation, according to the police report.

Police spoke with a number of neighbors. One of them said that the renter of the van lives around the corner and uses the van for work. Another said the van had been parked there for eight to nine days. Another said that she saw two dogs, “a light one and a dark one,” “jumping around and barking when the fireworks went off on July 4.

According to the report, the neighbors who said they had seen two men around the van described them as “black, light complexion,” and 5-foot-6. Another witness said the driver had dreadlocks.

Police ask that anyone with any information about this van or the two men call detectives at 617-343-5607, or submit information anonymously through the CrimeStoppers Tip Line by calling 1-800-494-TIPS (8477) or by texting the word “TIP” to CRIME (27463).