 Dog shot with pellet gun, resulting in death
Newport News, VA (US)Incident Date: Monday, May 2, 2005
County: Newport News City
Local Map: available
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
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Rick Gelsinger's boxer, Alex, romping in the fenced backyard of their Kiln Creek home on May 2, suddenly bolted for the back door. Gelsinger looked the dog over, noticed a small cut on his side, and figured Alex had gotten nipped while roughhousing with his playmate, Abby.
"I thought it was just a nick," says Gelsinger, a 41-year-old government contractor and military retiree. "It was just so small."
He called his vet, then watched Alex throughout the night. The next morning, he dropped Alex off at the vet's office for X-rays and blood work.
Soon, they called him with sickening news: "It was not a nick on his side," says Gelsinger, "but an entry point for a pellet."
Surgery removed the pellet, and for nearly a week Alex seemed to be recovering. Then Gelsinger noticed fluid seeping from the incision and took him back to the vet. They checked him out, then sent him home with a pressure bandage.
Slowly, his energy and appetite increased.
Then on May 14, Alex took a turn for the worse. He vomited his dinner. His belly swelled with fluid. Another trip to the vet found Alex's white blood cell count soaring, signaling an infection.
A surgical specialist operated two days later. But during recovery that evening, Alex's heart failed, and he died.
For Gelsinger, the loss is acute. His father passed away a year ago, he says, "the only family member I've ever lost in my life, and never imagined that this could be as painful as that was."
He spent nearly $5,000 over two weeks to try to save his pet, using a home equity loan to cover it. He doesn't regret the expense, only that all that money still couldn't save Alex.
Alex's death elevates the crime to a felony, one of 59 cruelty cases handled so far this month by the city's new Animal Services Division.
In most cases, says agency superintendent Mark Kumpf, someone will tip his hand. "Any time you have people with secret knowledge," Kumpf says, "it really doesn't stay secret very long."
He worked animal investigations for 15 years in Norfolk before joining Newport News. One of his more memorable cases was a decorated soldier who got tired of his neighbor's barking dog.
Gelsinger says he's never received a complaint about his dogs. Kumpf says his investigator hasn't turned up anything, either. No suspect, no leads, no motive.
"The vet said it had to be at close range to do the damage that it did," Gelsinger says - point a gun at him and pull the trigger. Without anyone seeing anything.
If you know something, call 595-PETS (7387). "The unfortunate reality," says Kumpf, "is many people may have a particular problem with a particular animal, but instead of contacting the owner or animal services, they take matters into their own hands. Often with tragic consequences." Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
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