Dog shot in the face with sawed-off shotgun
Albuquerque, NM (US)

Incident Date: Wednesday, Jan 5, 2005
County: Bernalillo

Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: 16 year old boy

A 16-year-old is in jail and charged with extreme animal cruelty. Police say the teen shot his neighbor's dog in the face with a sawed-off shotgun for no reason. The dog, named Toby, was a 10-month-old chow cross.

Bullet fragments were found lodged in Toby's lungs, trachea and stomach. After six hours on oxygen at the animal hospital, Toby's owner decided to put him to sleep.

When police caught the suspect, the teen told them Toby had bitten him in the past but did nothing to provoke him this night.

Neighbors and doctors say Toby never did anything to justify his death.

Police have charged the teen who shot Toby with a felony count of animal cruelty.

Toby died Wednesday (Jan 5, 2005) at a 24-hour animal emergency clinic in northeast Albuquerque. The vets say they did everything to try and save him, but the dog was in such bad shape that there wasn't much they could do.

References

• KOAT - Jan 5, 2005

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