Case Details

Dog shot twice in the head with .38
Groveland Township, MI (US)

Incident Date: Thursday, Oct 21, 2004
County: Oakland
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Abuser names unreleased

Case ID: 2897
Classification: Shooting
Animal: dog (non pit-bull)
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A dog that was shot twice in the head with a .38-caliber handgun is alive and doing well, said Larry Olbrecht, director of Oakland County's Animal Control Department.

So are three of the dog's four 5-week-old puppies. One had died before state police and animal control officers removed the dogs from their owner's property on Kier Road.

The man who shot the puppies' mother, described by state police as the 21-year-old nephew of the owner of the house where the incident took place, was arrested on charges of animal cruelty and using a firearm in the commission of a felony. He was released, pending the presentation of a state police investigation to the Oakland County prosecutor's office.

Trooper Chad Gruenwald of the Groveland Township state police post said police were sent just after 9 a.m. Thursday to a home on Kier Road near Oak Hill Road when a neighbor called to say a man was shooting dogs.

It turned out only one dog had been shot, and it had survived, Gruenwald said.

When troopers arrived on Kier Road, they stopped a vehicle driven by the suspect. He cooperated with them, saying he did not want to shoot the dog, but his uncle had ordered him to do so.

He told troopers his uncle had warned him that if he did not destroy the dogs, he would be kicked out of the house.

"This kid has really been down on his luck," Gruenwald said of the suspect. "His dad is in prison, and he had lost his job. His uncle had told him previously that he had to get rid of those dogs."

That morning, the young man told police, the uncle had given him the handgun and a box of ammunition, ordering him to destroy the dogs or prepare to move out of the house, Gruenwald said.

Olbrecht described the mother dog, which had had puppies and lived outside, as a small, sweet-natured mongrel. According to state police, the suspect held the gun to the dog's head and fired two shots.

But because the suspect fired down at an angle, the bullets passed through the dog's face and jaw and missed her brain. The dog then ran off, yelping and bleeding badly. That's when police were called.

The suspect told the troopers he couldn't shoot the dog again, so he drove to a nearby relative's house. It was shortly after that the police arrived and arrested him.

"He fully cooperated with us," Gruenwald said. "He said he didn't want to do this. It was that or live in his truck."

Animal control officers responding to the state police's call for assistance found the wounded dog curled up. They took her and the three surviving puppies to a veterinarian, who performed surgery on her.

The wounded dog's sinuses were blown out by the gunshots and her jaw was damaged, but the animal is recovering, Olbrecht said.

"She'll have a slightly deformed lip and nose," he said of the effects of the wounds. "The pups are fine - they're good and healthy."

Olbrecht says the dog and her pups probably will be taken to the county animal shelter in Auburn Hills once they are stabilized next week, then put up for adoption.

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References

The Flint Journal - Oct 23, 2004
Detroit Free Press - Nov 5, 2004

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