Ex-pastor arrested for shooting neighbor's dog
Lititz, PA (US)

Incident Date: Saturday, May 1, 2004
County: Lancaster

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Aaron E. Riehl

A retired pastor faces a cruelty-to-animals charge for killing his neighbor's dog when it wandered onto his property. 67 year old Reverend Aaron Riehl of West Earl Township shot the two-year-old English setter with an air gun on May 1, 2004.

Animal welfare officer Keith Mohler filed the misdemeanor charge Wednesday with Lititz District Justice Daniel Garrett.

The dog's owners say the dog slipped off his leash and ran into the neighboring field. He then found the dog lying wounded behind Riehl's home and it died on the way to an emergency veterinary hospital.

The onwer's had been holding a birthday party for one of their daughters.

Riehl's attorney, William Wheatly, says the retired pastor likes animals and didn't intend to kill the dog. He says Riehl "fired a shot from a B-B gun to scare the dog." Wheatly says, "The dog was in a place where it didn't belong running wild instead of (being) on a leash."

References

• WPVI.Com

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