Police charge father and son in animal cruelty investigation. Charges filed for dogs' deaths after tip given.
A father and son have been charged in connection with the shooting deaths of two dogs in Roanoke County, police said Tuesday.
The dogs - an Alaskan malamute and a black chow - were found Jan 26 off Bradshaw Road. Each had been shot once through the chest and dumped over an embankment into a creekbed.
After the discovery, the owners of the malamute offered a $500 reward for information about the deaths. Well wishers hearing of the story added more money, bringing the total to $1,050.
The reward apparently worked. The Bowes, who live in Botetourt County, received a phone call late one night from a man who said he had the name of the shooter. The same man also tipped off Botetourt County authorities.
The investigation into the deaths changed localities several times. Although the dogs were killed in Roanoke County, they had disappeared from their homes in Botetourt County four days before their bodies were found. The case ended up with the Roanoke County Police Department, which investigated the deaths first as a suspicious circumstances case and later changed it to an animal cruelty case.
On Monday, police charged James "Bobby" Fitzgerald with two counts of cruelty to animals, according to Roanoke County police Lt Gary Roche. The 28 year old's father, James Douglas Fitzgerald, 40, was charged wth illegally dumping the dogs, Roche said.
The dogs, Cain and Burt, disappeared from the Carvins Cove Road area of Botetourt County on Jan 22. Ashley Bowe, who owned Cain, a 2 year old malamute, said the two dogs often played together on the family's farm. Burt was a neighborhood dog whom residents took turns feeding.
After putting up posters and runing an ad in The Roanoke Times, Bowe and her parents heard from an employee at the J&B Market on Bradshaw Road. The employee said a man had come in claiming to have seen two dead dogs on an embankment in the 4900 block.
The younger Fitzgerald told police he shot the dogs with a rifle because they were attacking his pheasants, Roche said. It's legal in Roanoke County to shoot at animals if they're attacking livestock, but the investigating officers didn't find evidence that the birds were being attacked, Roche said.
There's also some dispute over where on the property the dogs were shot, Roche said. None of the Fitzgerald's birds, which he keeps in a pen, was killed.
The investigation revealed that the elder Fitzgerald dumped the dogs after his son, who uses a wheelchair, shot them, Roche said. Like the cruelty to animals charge, illegal dumping is a Class 1 misdemeanor. Roche didn't know why the Fitzerald didn't contact animal control officers after the shooting.
Each of the charges against the Fitzgeralds is punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
Ashley Bowe said Tuesday she was relieved that someone had been charged.
Meanwhile, the Bowes plan to dole out the reward money after the case goes to court. The man who initially called, as well as a friend of his, will probably split the money, Bowe said. Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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