Pet-Abuse.Com - Animal Abuse Case Details: Three hunting dogs shot

Three hunting dogs shot
Riverview, FL (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Dec 3, 2004
County: Hillsborough
Local Map: available
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Randy A. Arlington

Case Updates: 1 update(s) available

Case ID: 3338

Classification: Shooting

Animal: dog (non pit-bull)

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Three hunting dogs named Buford, Gator and Piper were shot dead at at point-blank range on private property.

An acquaintance found the dogs fatally shot in the head early Saturday in front of a Balm Boyette Road driveway - a bizarre case of animal cruelty, the owners and authorities said. Someone had removed the dogs' identification tags.

There are no suspects, said Hillsborough County sheriff's Sgt. Alan Hill. The dogs disappeared Thursday night as they hunted wild hogs at 12799 Balm Boyette Road, property owned by Glen Soper.

Soper's 32 acres are next to 1,200 acres owned by Hillsborough County under the Environmental Lands Acquisition and Protection Program.

Wild hogs were coming onto his property, Soper said, so he invited Wilson and five other men to come over and hunt them Thursday. Soper has horses and worried that they would suffer broken legs because of torn fields.

Soper said the dog shooting seemed like ``a message sent that, `You don't mess with me,' '' but he has never had a confrontation with neighbors.

The dogs were shot at close range with a .22-caliber weapon, according to Wilson. Kenny Easton, 27, owned Piper, and Marshall Stinson, 14, owned Gator.

The hunters placed tracking devices on seven dogs' collars and let them out to find the hogs. They planned to track the dogs' locations and head out to find them. None of the hunters carried guns; the dogs kill the hogs.

``All we use is the dogs, a flashlight, a tracking device, rope and a pocketknife,'' Wilson said.

The men said they heard someone in the woods shout at the dogs. The group searched for the three missing dogs late Thursday night into Friday morning.

Soper and his friends are asking anyone with information regarding the shootings to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office at (813) 247-8200.

Case Updates

Randy A. Arlington, 44, has been accused of animal cruelty in the slaying of three hunting dogs.

Arlington, was arrested December 23, 2004 and also charged with three counts of improperly disposing of a dead animal. He was being held at Orient Road Jail, with bail set at $17,000.

The dogs, Buford, Gator and Piper, were shot in the head with what appeared to have been a .22-caliber weapon. They were shot at point-blank range on another mans property. The dogs belonged to three other men.

The property owner stated that he suspected Arlington because Arlington has a contract with the county to hunt hogs on the county land.

Arlington was allegedly intimidating the property owner. It was unclear where or when the dogs were shot.. Their bodies were dumped in front of property owners driveway two days after he freed them to hunt. Their identification tags had been removed.

The Property owner stated that the arrest sent its own message, stating he was the property owner, and he didn't take threats lightly. The property owner stated he felt Arlington thought everyone was just going to bury the dogs and forget about it, but they didn't.

Source: Tampa Tribune - Dec 24, 2004
Update posted on Dec 28, 2004 - 9:16PM

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Three hunting dogs shotRiverview, FL (US)

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Three hunting dogs shot
Riverview, FL (US)