Guard dog shot to death
Buellton, CA (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Jun 28, 2008
County: Santa Barbara
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
A family guard dog is shot dead, and now its owners are offering a reward to find out who is responsible.
It has been one month since the Beckerts found their 1 and a half-year-old dog dead on their ranch near Buellton in the 6000 block of Santa Rosa Road. A $1,500 dollar reward is now being offered to find who killed "Stocks," the family guard dog.
Stocks, an Anatolian Shepherd dog, was just doing his job protecting the ranch when someone killed him. Stocks' owners, Chris and Kia Beckert, were left to explain the shooting to their 11-year-old daughter.
"The fact that somebody could do such a heinous act, it threatens the security of my family, it threatens the security of my daughter. What are they going to do to our other animals?" Chris Beckert said.
Around 6:00 a.m. June 28, Kia Beckert rode her quad down the hill to get the morning newspaper. When she got to the bottom of the hill, before even reaching the mailbox, 10 feet inside the gate she made the awful discovery. Someone had shot Stocks dead with one bullet to the chest.
Stocks' mom, "Ipo," and brother "Dewey" are the only guard dogs left.
"There's no way somebody could accidentally mistaken him as a coyote or anything else, and where he was shot, somebody literally had to walk up to the fenceline and do it," Chris Beckert said.
The Beckerts raise all sorts of animals on their 20-acre property. They have never seen any violence near their ranch in the 10 years since they have lived here.
"Why, more than anything else. I just like to know why so I can tell whether I should still be in fear or whether whatever happened is over," Kia said.
Julia DiSieno runs Animal Rescue Team. Their group pitched in $1,000 to find the shooter.
"The scary part of it all is if he went as far as he did to shoot this innocent animal, it's frightening what else he'll do," DiSieno said.
Now, the search continues to find who killed Stocks, an animal more than just a pet, but a member of the family.
The Beckerts said because of what happened, they will be installing another gate at their access road to try and stop any trespassers from getting into their ranch.
Buellton Dog Killed - Reward for Information
If you have any information on the killing of "Stocks" the guard dog in Buellton, please call the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department at (805) 686-5000.
You must reference case #08-12311. You can remain anonymous if you wish.
To donate money toward the reward, log onto www.animalrescueteam.net. If you have information on this case, please contact:
Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department
(805) 686-5000
References« CA State Animal Cruelty Map
« More cases in Santa Barbara County, CA
|
