Sedgwick County investigators are looking into whether the shooting of a dog Tuesday morning might fall under a new animal cruelty law that went into effect July 1.
Toma, an 8-month-old Yorkshire terrier, is recovering after being shot in the right front leg with a pellet gun.
Robbie Balog said Toma and her other dog, a Jack Russell terrier named Daisy, were outside with her at about 6:30 a.m. on Tuesday while she was feeding her horses at her house near 103rd Street South and Greenwich Road.
The dogs were barking at the horses, Balog said, and got a neighbor's dogs to barking, too.
Balog said she saw the neighbor come out of his house, pull out a gun and shoot the Yorkie.
"There was blood everywhere, his leg was flopping, and he was screaming," Balog said.
Balog took the dog, which belongs to her daughter, Christa Gardner, to veterinarian Jennifer Sullivan at Blair Doon Veterinary Hospital in Wichita.
Sullivan said Toma had been shot with a large pellet that "lodged in the ulna and split it lengthwise." She said she removed the pellet and fitted Toma with a splint.
"The biggest worry now is infection," Sullivan said.
Sgt. Terry Litton of the Sedgwick County sheriff's office said sheriff's officers and Sedgwick County Animal Control "are looking into the allegation to see if it arises to the level of Scruffy's law."
Scruffy's law, also called Magnum's law, was passed by the Kansas Legislature in February and went into effect July 1.
Under the law, anyone found guilty of "intentionally and maliciously" killing or injuring an animal can be charged with a felony and face penalties of at least 30 days in jail and $500 to $5,000 in fines.
Litton said investigators are "looking at the level of malicious intent involved" in the shooting of Toma.
"The big part of this is the maliciousness," Litton said. "The way the law is written, Scruffy's law is designed to keep people from committing cruel, horrendous acts toward an animal."
Scruffy was a Yorkshire terrier who was tortured and killed in Kansas City, Kan., in 1997. Another dog, Magnum, was found in Wichita in August 2005 with cuts, chemical burns and a broken leg. Magnum's abuse and subsequent death led to wide community support for tougher animal cruelty laws.
Gardner, Toma's owner, said she didn't know whether her dog's shooting would be considered a felony or just a misdemeanor. "I'm pushing for a felony," she said.
Toma was not tortured, like Scruffy and Magnum, "but he's in a lot of pain," Gardner said. "He wakes up in the night crying, and we have to give him painkillers."
Balog admits that her dogs make a lot of noise.
"My Jack Russell just runs around and barks all the time. She gets out of control," Balog said.
"I can understand it being annoying."
What Balog doesn't understand is why someone would shoot a 4-pound dog just for barking.
"You just don't shoot a little dog just because you're having a bad day," she said.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news...s/15096151.htm