Dog shot, resulting in death
South Paris, ME (US)Incident Date: Wednesday, Nov 1, 2006
County: Oxford
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
After a pet hound dog was shot in the woods on Nov 1, a warden is warning dog owners to keep their canines leashed - especially during deer hunting season.
Game Warden Norm Lewis said on Nov 3 that dog owners need to be extra vigilant during hunting season. Maine law prohibits shooting domestic animals, Lewis said. The law also prohibits allowing dogs to run free.
"There's a segment of the population who feel if a dog is in the woods, it's a threat to wildlife," Lewis said, and shooting a dog is considered by some, "doing everyone a service."
The dog shot on Nov 1 belonged to Shawn and Tobie Gordon, and their family who live on Webber Farm Road in Paris.
Tobie Gordon said her husband came home with her 10-year-old son around 4 p.m. Wednesday, and the dog, Zoe, a 3-year-old cross between a Labrador retriever and a coon hound, slipped out the door between their legs.
The dog was black, with a tuft of white fur on her chest. She sat low to the ground, coming up to the knees of an average person, she said. It also had a collar with metal tags that would have been ringing if she had been running through the woods.
Zoe was not gone eight minutes when father and son heard gunshots. The dog returned home bleeding from the face and the neck.
Shawn Gordon took her to Oxford Hills Veterinary Hospital in Paris, where for 2� hours the vet tried to stop the bleeding. But Zoe died during surgery.
"My son is taking it hard," Tobie said. "She was the family dog but she slept in his room."
The Gordons, who also have a 5-year-old daughter, live on a cul-de-sac, a short street with seven houses. Tobie said she was concerned because there are children who play outside, and she knows there are hunters around.
"This is why hunting gets a bad name," she said, adding that her husband and many relatives hunt.
Lewis said it was unclear whether the dog was shot on purpose or by accident. "We assume it's a hunter, but that's an assumption," he said.
Lewis said he has no leads on who shot the animal. No bullet was recovered.
The warden said he typically hears of one or two domestic dogs getting shot during hunting season in southern Maine every year. Whether the shootings are accidental or not is sometimes a mystery, he said. References |
