Case Details
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Case Snapshot
Case ID: 16522
Classification: Shooting
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
More cases in Lucas County, OH
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Abuse was retaliation against animal's bad behavior
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Attorneys/Judges
Judge(s): Timothy Kuhlman


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Caged dog shot six times
Toledo, OH (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Jul 9, 2010
County: Lucas

Disposition: Convicted

Defendants/Suspects:
» Lawrence Mick
» Adam Collins

Case Updates: 5 update(s) available

Two Toledo men were arraigned Monday on charges that they took turns shooting a German shepherd while the dog was caged and howling in a backyard.

The dog, named Sarge, survived six 25-caliber bullets to his head and chest and is now recovering at the Lucas County dog pound.

"He's alive and he's up and walking," Dog Warden Julie Lyle said last night, noting that all six bullets remain lodged inside the dog. "He's a tough guy."

Toledo police on Friday arrested the dog's owner, Lawrence Mick, 57, of 631 Federal St. in East Toledo, and a friend, Adam Collins, 35, of 317 River Place, after witnesses described how the two men "took turns shooting the dog while it was in the cage and the dog was screaming," according to police reports.

Police said the shooting occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the backyard of the Federal Street address.

A neighbor, Melissa Campau, 46, said she called 911 after hearing the dog's first yelp.

When Ms. Campau looked out her window, she said, she saw two men standing over the caged dog outside the Federal Street residence where Mick lives with his girlfriend.

"The younger guy shot the dog three or four more times," Ms. Campau said, a reference to Mr. Collins.

Both men went inside the house for a few minutes, before "the older guy [Mick] came out and shot the dog a couple more times."

Friday's shooting followed a June 23 incident in which a South Toledo man and his girlfriend are accused of kidnapping a neighbor's dog and shooting it twice with a 45-caliber handgun.

That dog, named Tyson, is expected to live but will be blind in one eye.

Parts of the South Toledo incident were caught on video by a neighbor's surveillance cameras.

Both Mick and Mr. Collins were arraigned Monday in Toledo Municipal Court. Mick was held last night in the Lucas County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond. He's charged with cruelty to animals, discharging a firearm, inducing panic, obstructing official business, and having weapons after previously being convicted on drug charges.

He is to appear Monday before Toledo Municipal Judge Timothy Kuhlman.

Mr. Collins pleaded no contest and was found guilty of cruelty to animals, inducing panic, giving false information to a police officer, and discharging firearms. He was released on his recognizance; a hearing date is set for July 21 in Toledo Municipal Court.

Mick told police that Sarge had bitten him and that Mr. Collins shot the animal because Mick "felt the dog was vicious."

But during an interview with The Blade, Mr. Collins denied that he was the one shooting the dog.

He said Sarge had bitten Mick's girlfriend before, and that he was visiting Mick Friday to help move and reinforce the dog's kennel.

Though Sarge was usually calm around Mick, the presence of two people in such close proximity made the dog feel surrounded, said Mr. Collins, who said he owns two dogs.

The dog started barking and trying to get out of the cage.

"He was busting it open," Mr. Collins said.

"Larry said, 'We have to do something, it's going to get out of the cage.'"

The bullet-ridden dog was "bleeding profusely" when officers arrived, police reports said. Officers recovered a 25-caliber automatic pistol.

Police said Mr. Collins fled but was arrested shortly afterward. He initially tried to give a false social security number and later admitted to lying because "he knew he had warrants."

Mick also allegedly threatened a neighbor when he said he was going to call police.

Ms. Lyle said Sarge received emergency veterinary care the night of the shooting. Five bullets entered his head or neck and a sixth bullet struck his chest.

The dog is now on antibiotics and pain medicine and doing quite well for having been shot six times, the warden said.

"He's not really in need of special care," she said.

Still, a veterinarian may eventually have to remove one of the bullets that may be irritating an ear. Ms. Lyle said Sarge could remain at the pound at least through the court proceedings.

The animal has yet to display any violent tendencies and has behaved while going outside for walks, she said.

In January, Mick moved into the Federal Street house to live with his girlfriend, Melinda Perry. Ms. Perry said yesterday that Sarge attacked her two weeks ago, but that she allowed Mick to keep the dog because "he loved it."

"He is Larry's dog," she said. "I told him it was up to him."

Ms. Perry said Mick does not own a gun. She added that he has heart problems and diabetes that could make jail time a real danger. According to police reports, Mick carries 320 pounds on his 6-foot-tall frame.

"I'm very worried, the man's ill," she said. "I just think Larry's getting a raw deal."

Ms. Campau, one witness to Friday's shooting, said she often saw Sarge playing outside with a ball or barking.

She had also seen him jump up on the property's fence to try to get out.

"Nobody plays with it, nobody interacts with it," Ms. Campau said. "The dog sat in the kennel all day long."


Case Updates

Lawrence Mick, accused of shooting his German Shepard six times in July 2010, changed his not guilty plea to "no contest."

A Toledo Municipal Court judge then found Mick guilty on charges of cruelty, inducing panic, and obstructing official business.

Mick had put "Sarge" the German Shepherd in a cage on his property in Toledo and then shot Sarge at least six times. The dog survived the attack and is now living at a rehabilitation center in Utah.

Mick has already been convicted of a felony charge of carrying a weapon under disability. He's was sentenced to serve 60 days in jail and perform 200 hours of community service at the Toledo Area Humane Society.

The 58-year-old was sentenced in Lucas County Common Pleas Court after he was found guilty Jan. 5 of having a weapon while under disability. He has been prohibited from using or owning a firearm after a previous drug conviction.

Mick will learn his additional fate during a sentencing in March.
Source: foxtoledo.com - Feb 23, 2011
Update posted on Feb 25, 2011 - 7:00PM 
The man who faces misdemeanor charges for shooting his caged dog several times in the backyard of his Toledo home was ordered to perform community service hours at the Toledo Humane Society as part of his sentence for a weapons conviction.

Lawrence Mick, 58, was sentenced Friday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to three years of community control. As part of the sanction, Judge Stacy Cook ordered Mick to spend 60 days in the Corrections Center of Northwest Ohio and to perform 200 hours of community service at the animal shelter.

A jury of seven women and five men found Mick guilty Jan. 5 of having a weapon while under disability after a two-day trial.

Because Mick had been convicted of a misdemeanor drug offense in Michigan in 1988, he had been prohibited from owning or using a firearm.

The case stemmed from a July 9 incident in which police were called to Mick's Federal Street home on a call of shots fired. There, they found Mick's dog in a cage with several gunshot wounds.

He faces misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty, firearms discharge, inducing panic, and obstructing official business in Toledo Municipal Court.

Mick has pleaded not guilty to the charges and has a Feb. 22 trial scheduled.
Source: wtol.com - Jan 21, 2010
Update posted on Jan 21, 2011 - 9:08PM 
Using verbal threats such as, "We'll get you for this," Melinda Perry hoped to intimidate the witnesses against her boyfriend who faces both felony and misdemeanor charges for shooting at his caged dog, a Lucas County assistant prosecutor said Thursday.

Perry, 51, pleaded no contest in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to one count of intimidation of a witness in a criminal case. She faces up to five years in prison Judge James Bates sentences her Nov. 9. Two additional counts will be dismissed at her sentencing.

Assistant Prosecutor Michael Narges said between July 9 and Aug. 2, Perry tried to "influence, intimidate, or hinder" three witnesses in the criminal case against Lawrence Mick.

Mick, 57, has pleaded not guilty in Toledo Municipal Court to charges of animal cruelty, firearms discharge, inducing panic, and obstructing official business. He has pleaded not guilty before Common Pleas Court Judge Stacy Cook to having a weapon as a felon.

"After Mr. Mick was arrested, Ms. Perry made several attempts to threaten and intimidate the people who called police to hinder them from cooperating with the prosecution," Mr. Narges said.

Mick and Adam Collins, 35, are accused of taking turns July 9 shooting a caged dog six times as it howled in the backyard of a Federal Street house. Each says it was the other who did the shooting.

If convicted on the weapons charge, Mick faces up to five years in prison.

On Monday, Mick appeared before Judge Cook with a request to modify his bond. He is in custody at the county jail in lieu of a $50,000 bond. Judge Cook denied the request.

Dean Mandros, chief of the criminal division of the county prosecutor office, said that he opposed the motion to adjust Mick's bond because "we felt that he posed a threat to the witnesses in this case." Mr. Mandros pointed to Perry's recent plea as proof.

Saying that the office would "not tolerate" victim intimidation, Mr. Mandros said that additional charges against Mick are being considered.

"This office takes a very rigid stance against those people who try to prevent witnesses from fulfilling their obligations," Mr. Mandros said.

Judge Bates warned Perry at her plea hearing that she was not to have any contact with the victims in the case. Mr. Narges told the judge that he was informed of a "continuing threatening situation" by Perry in the neighborhood.

Her attorney, Patricia Horner, told the judge that Perry understood her obligations and that she recently had filed a menacing complaint against members' of the victims' families.
Source: toledoblade.com - Sept 24, 2010
Update posted on Nov 6, 2010 - 12:35PM 
A German Shepherd that survived being shot six times has been transferred from Ohio to a no-kill animal sanctuary in southern Utah.

The Toledo Area Humane Society says Sarge is adjusting to life at Best Friends Animal Society, which also took pit bulls from NFL player Michael Vick's dogfighting ring.

Sarge's trip to Kanab, Utah, was delayed last month after he bit an employee's wife.

Police say Sarge's owner and another man took turns shooting at the dog while he was trapped in a cage.

Each man has said the other shot the dog as he tried to break out of the cage.
Source: WKYC - Sept 11, 2010
Update posted on Sep 12, 2010 - 1:52PM 
From Sylvania, Ohio to Alaska, dozens of dog lovers have expressed their support for an East Toledo German shepherd named Sarge who was shot six times in a cage last week and survived.

Several well-wishers have even offered him their loving homes.

"I have plenty of room and a big barn," said Alana Yoder, who lives outside Dayton, Ohio and read about Sarge's story on the Internet.

Yet those wishing to liberate the plucky pooch from the Lucas County pound where he's recovering may have to go through an intermediary, such as a rescue group.

County Dog Warden Julie Lyle said Thursday that Sarge is ineligible for direct adoption from the Lucas County pound because he has a record of biting.

"I don't see any situation in which I would be placing an adult, biting dog into a home directly from us," Lyle said.

Paperwork on file with the warden says that on July 1, Sarge allegedly bit both his owner and the owner's girlfriend. The bites were reported to the Toledo-Lucas County Health Department by Mercy St. Charles Hospital, where the girlfriend sought treatment for bites on her right arm, leg, and buttocks.

Eight days later on July 9, police said owner Lawrence Mick, 57, and a friend, Adam Collins, 35, allegedly took turns shooting the caged dog outside Mick's house. Neighbors recall hearing the animal howl in pain.

Sarge amazingly survived the six 25-caliber bullet wounds in his head and chest, and is recovering under Lyle's care at the pound. Toledo police arrested both men for animal cruelty, among other charges.

As news spread of Sarge's ordeal, dozens of people made phone calls and wrote e-mails to inquire about his future. But Lyle said that a direct adoption from her office won't happen.

Sarge is being held at the pound for the minimum 14 business days required by state law for licensed dogs. When that period is up at month's end, Lyle said she may test the dog's temperament-to see if he shows aggressive tendencies. If his behavior is acceptable, he could then leave the pound via transfer to a rescue group.

Still, Lyle said it's too early to make promises about when or how Sarge might leave the pound, "because if he's considered a public-safety threat, we won't be in that situation -- we will be euthanizing him."

Yoder, whose police officer husband trains K-9 dogs, said she would love to bring Sarge to their 15-acre homestead in Xenia Township outside of Dayton. She said she called the dog warden's office Wednesday and was disappointed to learn that even someone like herself, who is aware of Sarge's past and willing to accept liability, can't offer him a home.

"I'm hoping against hope that they don't put the seventh bullet in him," she said.

Nikki Morey, executive director of Planned Pethood Inc., a Toledo-area rescue group, said her group would need to know more about Sarge's temperament and the July 1 bites before deciding whether to seek his transfer from the pound.

"If he's got a bite history then we have a liability for ourselves, because if we get sued we're done," she said.

John Dinon, executive director of the Toledo Area Humane Society, said that by policy they don't adopt out dogs with bite histories to the public.

"As much as we would like to help Sarge, I don't think we would be able to rehome him," he said.

Mick's girlfriend, Melinda Perry, 51, told authorities that Sarge attacked her at home unprovoked as she sat in a chair. The dog bit her extremities as she raised her arm to guard her face. Mick was bitten as he tried to pull the dog off her, according to the report.

A woman who answered Perry's phone yesterday hung up on a reporter.

One of Sarge's original owners, Mario Kiezi, 20, was surprised by the purported circumstances of the July 1 bites.

"As a previous owner, I know Sarge would never bite a woman unless provoked," Kiezi said in an interview. "He generally was a pretty friendly dog."

Kiezi said his family got the dog as a pup from a Sandusky breeder about 3 1/2 years ago and named him Sarge. He was very popular at his family's Navarre Carryout in Oregon, where customers often brought him treats.

As Sarge grew older, he received training in obedience and other skills that he could use at the store.

"We had him trained on a special word if he ever needed to attack," Kiezi said, "but we never really used it."

Kiezi said it was a sad day when they returned Sarge to the breeder about a year ago as three members of his family were expecting children. "We had a house filled with babies and we didn't want to take a chance with babies around," he said.

Mick has been charged with cruelty to animals, discharging a firearm, inducing panic, obstructing official business, and having weapons after he had been convicted on drug charges.

He is being held at the Lucas County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond. Collins pleaded no contest in Toledo Municipal Court and was found guilty of cruelty to animals, inducing panic, giving false information to a police officer, and discharging a firearm. He was released on his own recognizance.
Source: Scipps News - July 16, 2010
Update posted on Sep 12, 2010 - 1:51PM 

References

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