[News] Yorkie Shot By Pellet Gun for Barking
 

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

This is so sad i hate some people! How would he like it if she shot him in the leg with a pellot gun cause he annoyed her? the nerve of some people! Hope the puppy gets better poor thing!

This enrages me.

I am certain that if I went outside right now and shot my neighbors windows out with a pellet gun, I would be arrested.

This guy intentionally shot his neighbor's dog. Why is there any question about arresting this guy and charging him with a felony? If he is allowed to get away with this, watch out, it's open season on our pets.

that man should be tossed in jail ! i wonder if he knew that someone was there and had seen him? what a jerk! he should be shot in hjis leg i hope they make him pay the vet bills at the very least and get some kind of restraining order what if a child had been near and he shot them instead?!

Let's take him outside and shoot HIM with a pellet gun. Let him see how it feels.

For anyone who doesn't know, this is the story of Scruffy:( :

http://pages.prodigy.net/mjartisian/scruffypostpet.html

I just can't read it anymore. Hope they all rot in hell!

What the heck is wrong with people???? this is so sad

well said :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:

Thank god it was only his leg. It amazes me how some people act towards animals. I feel so blessed that my parents raised me around animals, and I now work with dogs. I can't think of my babies as anything less than my children. It's sad to realize there are people in the world who wouldn't even take a second to rethink hurting an animal.

OMG......I feel bad after giving my guys a little tap on the rump for peeing on a chair or carpet.....I can't imagine ever even THINKING of doing something like that. I hope they are/were all tried as adults and received maximum penalty. How sad........What gets me is not even that they killed him, but that they tortured him alive in the ways they did.....he trusted them...and they betrayed that to put him through literal hell.....they deserve to go through hell

What the h@!!?????

This makes me sooooooooo freakin' upset! I HATE "HATE" people like that.

To me, this is a sign of something mental....psycho....rage........if he could do that to a little tiny dog, what else could he do?!

He should definitely be held accountable for this horrible act! Jail time, is a must for someone like this! It is crazy! Some people in this world are just so horrible!

That is horrible and disgusting! I read the story of Scruffy...sick ba**ards!:mad:

How could anyone do that? I hope the person does get a felony charge.

I would shoot that mother f..er in a heartbeatjust like he did't showed compassion for the doggie I would not have compassion for him:thumbdown