Posted on 08/01/2012 6:29:04 PM PDT by AlmaKing
BRISTOL – A 5-year-old dog is recovering from a gunshot wound above his right eye and a local man is being charged with felony animal cruelty after shooting the dog on its owner's lawn last week, police said.
Michael Nelson, 36, a resident of Pike's Point Road, has been charged with cruelty to animals, a Class B felony punishable by 3½ to 7 years in jail, and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, for shooting named Australian shepherd mix named Tucker.
Tucker, who is owned by Michael and Lynne Furey, Pasadena, Md., and who were staying at their summer cottage several houses down from Nelson's home, is recovering from a gunshot wound above the right eye, the bullet left the skull through his right ear and then hit the dog's rear right toe, said Lynne Furey.
The dog is suffering from a neurological problem and has trouble keeping its balance, Furey said. The toe also had to be amputated.
Nelson, who was not reachable for comment, told police that he was acting in self-defense when he shot the dog on the Furey's lawn at about 3:30 p.m. Friday as the Fureys and several friends sat inside their home, according to Detective Sgt. Timothy Woodward.
“He claimed it was self-defense, that the dog had come to his yard and wouldn't stop barking, so he chased the dog to the owner's home and pulled out his gun, and shot the dog in the head,” Woodward said.
Nelson legally owned the gun, a 9 mm pistol, Woodward said. But police charged him with a felony after the investigation showed his actions were not warranted.
“If his life had been threatened or even minimally in danger, it might have been justified,” Woodworth said. “If this was a 100-pound Rottweiler, you might be able to understand it. But this was a 50-55 pound dog. He could have taken any number of other actions.”
The Fureys, who don't know Nelson, said they were sitting with friends at different sides of the house when they heard Tucker barking, and then heard a gunshot, Lynne Furey said.
“My husband came from one side of the house and I came from the other, and we see this man with a gun and our dog is rolling around in a pool of blood,” she said. “Of course we thought he was dying.”
Nelson looked at the Fureys and told them to call the police. “He said, 'I just shot your dog,'” she said. “He said something like, 'he was coming for me so I shot him.'”
The Fureys rushed Tucker to an animal hospital in Plymouth. It was recommended that the dog be taken to a Boston veterinary hospital, where his toe was amputated.
He is still having a neurological disorder as the result of the gunshot wound, but is expected to make a full recovery in the coming months, Lynne Furey said.
The couple is still shocked by the shooting, though. “He followed my dog with a loaded gun to our private property and shot him,” she said.
” He claimed it was self-defense, that the dog had come to his yard and wouldn’t stop barking, so he chased the dog to the owner’s home and pulled out his gun, and shot the dog in the head “
This idjit should suffer a similar fate .
Possible prison for shooting an animal? At most, it is a fine for damaging somebody’s property. In this case, the property was harassing the guy, so he took care of the business. A bit excessive in my book, however. So, a fine is good in this case.
Dogs bark . Call the owner before shooting .
“Dogs bark . Call the owner before shooting .”
Dogs bark... and bite, as well. So, take care of the potential threat, then call the owner to pick up the mess.
This time, based on the description, the guy was a bit too anxious to get rid of the dog. The guy should have shot the dog when it was on his property.
Before anyone flames me, I do love dogs of all kinds.
“I do love dogs of all kinds.”
Yum, stir or deep fried?
Quick, have him become a cop. Make it all well and good!!!
I’m from the South. Deep fried is preferable, where you can’t tell if it’s dog or an oyster.
A lot of towns in NH have leash laws...is Bristol one of them? The animal should have been on a leash if he was off the owner’s property...following it then shooting it was out of bounds, but the dog shouldn’t have been loose in the first place.
Call the owner . Guy’s like this arse give the left more ammo for taking our guns .
Call the owner . Guys
like this arse give the left more ammo for taking our guns .
With property (dog) comes responsibility (leash). An unleashed dog is a hazard to anyone. A barking mad dog needs to be put down.
There a couple of towns in NH that consider a dog ‘leashed’ if it is opn the owner’s property ‘under the owner’s command’...WTF? Yeah...’under the owner’s control’ until the dog sees a cat...’leash’ means ‘leash’ where I come from...
“like this arse give the left more ammo for taking our guns .”
The left does not need more “ammo” to disarm the population. They are motivated enough A:READY by the thought of docile and willing population that is unwilling to use their guns when necessary.
At least this guy used his gun to defend himself/family/property from an out of control dog. If everybody uses their guns responsibly and frequently, nobody would be daring to take away guns.
“A right not exercised is a right lost.”
“If his life had been threatened or even minimally in danger, it might have been justified,” (Detective Sgt. Timothy) Woodworth said. “If this was a 100-pound Rottweiler, you might be able to understand it. But this was a 50-55 pound dog. He could have taken any number of other actions.”
Oh, the irony.....
Apparently YOUR property was violating Mr. Nelson's private property...I see the dog owners are from 'out of state'. This is getting to be a real problem for old-time NH residents who have their private property rights violated on a daily basis. NY'ers and Massh*les routinely trespass to go berry picking, camping, shoot off fireworks, or whatever without giving any thought to the fact that they might be on someone's property. There is a simmering anger building...
Seriously. I saw all kinds of quotes like that that Freepers love to battle over.
The dog could not have been THAT viscious if he chased it out of the yard .
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.