Posted on 06/21/2005 5:34:42 AM PDT by briarjumper
FARM OWNER SAYS HE THOUGHT DOG HE SHOT WAS A COYOTE
By Greg Kocher
CENTRAL KENTUCKY BUREAU
NICHOLASVILLE - Burch Hager chokes up as he talks about the shooting death of Jack, his champion coonhound.
"To me, Jack was the perfect dog, you know? He was my Smarty Jones," said Hager, 47. "A hunting dog, his performance is what makes him. He's just like an athlete. He's just like a racehorse. That's what makes him what he is."
But Pete Primiano, the horse farm owner who faces a civil lawsuit filed earlier this month as well as two misdemeanor charges stemming from the shooting, said he was merely protecting his thoroughbred horses from what he thought was a coyote.
"I'm protecting my livelihood," Primiano said, and yet, "I've become the bad guy in this whole thing."
The shooting happened in November as Hager and others were hunting with permission on Haggin Lane in southern Woodford County. Hager, a backhoe operator for the City of Nicholasville's water department, told police later that around 9 p.m. he lost sight of his Treeing Walker coonhound, registered as Ch Rank's Stylish Jack.
About 30 minutes later, Hager heard gunshots from the direction Jack had gone. Using a tracking device that picks up a signal from the dog's collar, Hager eventually found his champion dog, valued at $15,000, dead on Primiano's property with a gunshot wound on the right side.
Hager called Versailles police to the scene. Primiano told police that around 9:30 p.m. he had shot three times at what he believed to be a coyote running through a horse paddock. One colt in the paddock was insured for $300,000.
"These two horses are running around this paddock like crazy," Primiano said. "I've shot a lot of coyotes out here, about 35 of them over six months. I figure, hey, this is another coyote."
Walker hounds will bark when they corner or "tree" a raccoon, but Primiano said this animal "never made a sound."
"When I saw it move up the side of the hill, all I shot at was two eyes," he said. Because it was night and because the animal was in tall weeds, Primiano said he couldn't tell whether it was a coyote or a dog.
Versailles Police Officer Nathan Craig wrote in his report that Primiano's AR15 223 rifle was equipped with "a high quality night vision scope."
"Through my observation of the scope, I determined that it would be nearly impossible to mistake the coon dog for a coyote," Craig wrote. "The scope presented a very clear view of the area in question, especially the 50- to 75-yard distance in which the dog was shot."
Police charged Primiano, 49, with animal cruelty and criminal mischief. Earlier this month, Hager filed a lawsuit alleging that Primiano's actions were "intentional and/or reckless and/or grossly negligent." And the suit says Hager is entitled to "emotional damages" resulting from the "intentional infliction of emotional distress."
The suit also says Hager is entitled to "the fair market value" of the dog but doesn't suggest a figure. Hager said he once refused a $4,500 offer for Jack.
"I wouldn't have gotten rid of the dog for nothing," Hager said. "It would have had to be sickness in the family where I just had to have the money. He was like part of the family."
Jack had earned between $5,000 and $7,000 in total prizes from competition hunts, but serious hunters can earn much more. Millcreek Molly, an Ohio coonhound, has earned more than $101,000 in competition prizes.
Hager said the Professional Kennel Club, an international registry for performance dogs based in Evansville, Ind., estimated Jack's value at $15,000, which included his breeding potential.
Five-figure settlements are not unprecedented in cases where hunting dogs have been shot and killed. Earlier this year, a Mississippi hunter paid a $10,500 settlement for shooting a purebred squirrel dog.
A wooden cross marks Jack's grave behind Hager's mobile home in the Mount Lebanon section of southeastern Jessamine County. Jack is buried next to a Lizza Jane, a 9-year-old female hound who died from a tumor in March 2004.
"Wherever you took him," Hager said, "when he got out of the truck, he acted like, 'Here I am. Hey, everybody, look at me.' He put his tail on his back, and he strutted. He was just cocky."
Burch Hager, owner of coonhound Stylish Jack
And just why was a $300,000 horse still outside. Excellent judgement all around.
Many Texas Ranchers & Farmers have a policy to shoot any stray dog on sight. Texas Law backs them up.
My property. My horses.
So the dog dies. Too bad.
Horses do not have to be brought in every night.
We leave our horses out at night to eat and graze.
I can tell the difference between a Walker hound and a coyote easily.
I can see both sides of this, the landowner was protecting his investment, but a loss of a champion coon hound is a rough thing too, considering backhoe operators are not exactly known for making high dollar salaries.
I have empathy for the dog owner and for the horse owner, but if that rifle were equipped as the article says, then he should have been able to tell the difference.
Also, if you pick all of the fat off, coon meat is mighty tasty roasted in the oven.
Here in Ohio, if an animal comes on your land and harasses your livestock/kids/etc, you DO have the right to shoot the interloper. (and hubby has)
Would you leave a $300,000 horse out if you had killed 35 coyotes over the preceeding 6 months???
How do you confuse a coondog and a coyote?
I easily see both sides of this. Dogs running wild have no business on someone else's property upsetting livestock. On the other hand, horses are not livestock, but just dogfood on the hoof.
Ping!
Good point.
West Virginia is the same. Dogs chasing livestock or running deer are shot on sight. BTDT.
You don't, unless you're one of those city guys who shoots a cow on a hunt thinking it was a deer.
"I can tell the difference between a Walker hound and a coyote easily"
At night in tall weeds when all you see is a mass and glowing eyes?
I've been to Jessamine county... a lot of my ancestors buried there. It makes the Ozarks look flat, at least the Eastern part.
If he intentionally shot the dog, what was his motive?
Read this:
Versailles Police Officer Nathan Craig wrote in his report that Primiano's AR15 223 rifle was equipped with "a high quality night vision scope."
"Through my observation of the scope, I determined that it would be nearly impossible to mistake the coon dog for a coyote," Craig wrote. "The scope presented a very clear view of the area in question, especially the 50- to 75-yard distance in which the dog was shot."
That would have been the the ultimate mistake to have shot something buy only seeing he eyes.If you are shooting a gun, you have to identify exactly what you shoot. Happens all the time during deer season that someone shot some poor soul because he "thought" it was a deer.
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.