Charges are pending against a Hawkins County man whose neighbors told police December 17, 2005 that they witnessed him wound a stray golden retriever with a rifle shot. Hawkins County Sheriff's Department Deputy M.L. Morhaime was called to the Knights I subdivision Saturday afternoon, where he met neighbors Kimberly Hobbs, Bertha Shugars and Tammy Johnson. Morhaime reported that he also found a golden retriever lying on the lawn in front of the Hobbs residence with a wound to its leg.
Each of the three women accused another neighbor, Jerry L. Woods, 55, of shooting the dog.
"Shugars saw the dog on the property of suspect Woods, saw Woods out on the front porch of his residence, saw Woods was armed with a rifle and aim the rifle at the dog, heard a loud report and saw the dog jump, and saw the dog come limping from the Woods property and continue to the Hobbs residence," Morhaime stated in his report. "Johnson saw the dog on the property of suspect Woods, saw Woods carrying �something,' heard a loud report, saw the dog come limping from the Woods property and continue across the Shugars property. Hobbs heard the loud report and saw the dog come limping across Shugars' property to her own." Morhaime said he spoke to Woods, who accused all three women of lying. Woods told Morhaime he did fire a weapon on his property but claimed he was shooting at a box.
"I advised Woods that a warrant would be issued if an owner of the dog can be found and if they wished to file charges," Morhaime stated. "Woods was detained only long enough to obtain identification information and was free to leave."
Morhaime added that the golden retriever appeared to be three to four years old, friendly and well cared for, and was wearing a Tennessee Department of Health rabies vaccination tag No. 003723.
The women also accused Woods of shooting at Hobbs' dog "Hawk" December 16, 2005. Hobbs said she'd only heard the shot, but Shugars reported that she witnessed the alleged incident.
"She (Shugars) said she had seen Woods out on his property carrying a rifle, that she also saw Hobbs' dog walking out on the roadway in front of Woods property, that she saw Woods point his rifle toward the dog and fire, that the dog then ran back to the Hobbs property, and she saw Woods then return inside his residence," Morhaime stated in his report.
Morhaime advised Hobbs to seek a private prosecution warrant against Woods for the alleged shooting and that the charges would be animal cruelty and reckless endangerment. Hobbs noted that her dog had been shot two weeks earlier and that neighbors told her they'd heard a shot come from the Woods residence. Morhaime said that alleged incident could not be prosecuted.
Neighborhood MapFor more information about the Interactive Animal Cruelty Maps, see the map notes.
Back to Top References« TN State Animal Cruelty Map
|
