Dog shot with arrow
Cross Lanes, WV (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Oct 20, 2010
County: Kanawha

Disposition: Open

Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!

Neighbors are outraged following a disturbing case of animal abuse where someone used a bow and arrow to kill a neighborhood dog.

It happened in Cross Lanes, and now one woman is working to find out who did it.

This case involves a stray dog that one neighborhood had come together and taken care of for the last two years.

Now, they're coming together in hopes of finding who killed her.

Tracey Smith has an incredible love for animals, so the last day's been very rough.

She rescues animals and finds them homes, working with dozens of animals in a given year. But, one dog, Olivia, made a unique impact on her.

After an attack on Wednesday, Smith buried Olivia Thursday morning.

Olivia was left in a Cross Lanes neighborhood two years ago.

She made friends with other animals, and everybody cared for her like she was their own.

"She was a friend to everybody. Everybody liked that dog around here," says Monty Burdette, one of many neighbors who cared for Olivia.

On Wednesday, a neighbor found Olivia badly hurt and bleeding.

Smith took her to a veterinarian and found out Olivia was the victim of a kill shot with a bow and arrow.

"Although they could attempt to do surgery, the vet basically said that there was a less than 10 percent chance that she'd even be able to withstand the anesthesia. So, Olivia was murdered," says Smith.

"People may say, 'Well, it's hunting season. She went in the woods.' No, she does not stray far from these houses," says neighbor Terri Dudley.

"There is somebody out there that is doing awful things to defenseless animals, and this isn't the first time this has happened in Cross Lanes," says Smith.

Jeremy Williams' dog, Toby, was shot with a bow and arrow during a burglary this summer.

"He's still not back to normal from it because he's a little bit jumpy now," says Williams.

Nobody ever figured out who hurt Toby.

But, Smith hopes some answers will come before another dog is targeted.

"[Olivia] had a special place in my heart. She was a kind dog, and she had been abandoned. There's just no excuse for any kind of animal cruelty, abuse, or neglect like this," says Smith.

Smith isn't just a concerned neighbor. She's also a regional director for the Animal Law Coalition of the Southern United States.

So, she says she's got a big network of people behind her, and hopes that can help get the word out.

Smith plans to offer a reward, and says people can expect to see a lot of signs going up in the community about that in the coming days.

References

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