Dear Gods...

[CrazyAce86]

I'm... I'm just still in shock, I guess. I don't know.

My neighbor... He shot my dog. He got drunk and mad and he came over and he shot my dog. He knocked on my door and told me and I just thought he was drunk and out of it, but then I saw my dog... He shot my dog three times... Jake was tied, he had no where to go, he just shot him... We called the cops and he was arrested, but... He came in my yard and shot my dog...

I just... I don't know. I know I live in the country with crazies, but I never thought my neighbor would be one of them. I mean, I've known him for years, he's only few years older than me. My mom has known since he was born... I just...

[MeneerDijk]

That's horrible! I hope they lock him up for a long time! And i wish you all the strength you need!

[erised]

OMG! :eyepop: I wouldn't be functional if that happened to me...

[Lateli]

That's horrible! What kind of charges/punishments can be filed for shooting a tied up dog? It's a felony isn't it?

Really, that's just horrible :/

[羽之助]

What the bloody hell?

Handgun? Shotgun? Where in the world do you live??

[Kwiz]

Drunk with a firearm... wonderful.

Best of luck, CA. That's got to be the worst way to lose a pet..

[Jetsetlemming]

Christ.... I'm sure there's more he'll be booked on besides killing a poor dog... shooting in a populated neighborhood, etc.... I hope he goes away for a long time.

[Apotheosis]

Wow, that's terrible. I'm so sorry for you, CA, your poor dog didn't deserve that.

[Stephy]

This makes me very sad. Why? How? how did he even have a gun? :( Why would he do such a thing? So horrible. Ugh. Heh, now I am crying. ugh. I'm so sorry Crazyace. This isn't fair. Horrible.

This reminds me of something when I was 11 years old, I think. My cat I had since I was a baby died because of a neighbor. She was always an outside cat, but very clean because we took very good care of her, like a member of the family and not even as a pet. I let her out one night and later that night she didn't come back and I went out to find her. She was laying near a yard, her eyes were rolled back and her body was stiff, and she was crying. She was crying all night (no vets open at the time, and we had made many calls for help) and in the morning she was found dead on my carpet in my room. Neighbor had poisoned some sort of cat food and fed it too her. Till this day, I still have no idea why.

[Loc]

Sorry to hear that, Lacey.

I'm sure your friends and family will support you through this.

[Zaysho]

Neighbor had poisoned some sort of cat food and fed it too her. Till this day, I still have no idea why.

People are just messed up. Why the hell would anyone want to kill an animal if it wasn't in self defense or for food? I can't believe how some can live with themselves when they do things like that.

Sorry to hear that your dog was shot for absolutely no reason, CrazyAce. Hope the bastard that did that gets what he deserves.

[Soli]

:( Some people just don't like pets.

And this is why you shouldn't drink and have anything like a gun around. :/

[Spaatz965]

Neighbor had poisoned some sort of cat food and fed it too her. Till this day, I still have no idea why.

When I was in grade school, we had a dog die the same way.

Sorry to hear about your dog CA...very messed up thing to have happen. Drunken jerk needs some serious judicial smacking around.

[Beowulf]

That is fucked up. But seriously, I think you're lucky it was just your dog. If he's capable of such an evil act while merely drunk then this guy was seriously fucked in the head. I wouldn't be surprised if the next thing he shoots while drunk would be some random bar fly or anyone else who mildly annoyed him.

[Pierrot le Fou]

At least the man had the sack to own up to what he did so that she could call the cops and get him and his firearm separated. Imagine if he hadn't told her and had a few more drinks...

[Archomnislash]

Yeah thats true, but is only a small comfort considering what he did.
Hope you get through it ok CA.

[CrazyAce86]

He didn't used to be so bad, but these past few months, it's gotten worse. He goes through a 24 pack of beer a day!

I've since found out that he had gone, shot Jake, come and told me, and then while I ran to call my parents, he went and shot him two more times with a shotgun! When the cop came, he very nearly threw up at the sight of it.

What's even worse is that after my neighbor had left, I ran out to Jake to see if he was still alive (I hadn't known he had been shot more) and I found him down in the woods. We had Jake chained so he wouldn't run off; the poor dog was down in the briar patch. He had tried to get away, and couldn't. I ran back inside, locked the door, and didn't answer it at all until my mom and dad came home. It hadn't really hit me that my neighbor was dangerous until then.

After that, my parents, my aunt, and my uncle all came to try and sort everything out. He was arrested, but a bond was set and his mom got him out. He's already back at his trailer. My mom had worried about this, so for the moment I'm living with my uncle.

The shock of it is kind of over now, but it's already turning into a mess. He's out, and his mother claims that she's going to press assault charges against my mom because my mom yelled at him and called him a worthless piece of shit. It was a fucked up scene in our driveway (we share one.) I'm trying to pull his mom off mine (she was all up in her face and grabbing her jacket), my dad's trying to restrain me, and my neighbor is just standing there with a beer can in his hand, looking glazed over.

The cop was at least honest with us. He said that it was unlikely that my neighbor would stay in jail, since Fulton County doesn't have one (we have to use the ones in two nearby counties), and that he probably would not get very much time, since killing a dog isn't exactly a "big crime, long time" in FC.

It's bullshit. I want to hate him so much, but in the end I just feel sorry for him. He was an absolute bastard to do what he did, but the fact he's become an alcoholic and possible junkie at 21 is just sad.

You wanna know why he killed Jake? Because he had fleas in his yard, therefore it must be from our dog. Jake didn't have any fleas! We had just checked him and put that flea stuff on him!

This was the first time in my life I was actually terrified. Not scared, not worried, but actually terrified. Because like some of you said, if he had decided to aim the gun at me...

I just don't know. Jake was a sweet, dumb mutt. He would've walked up to anybody. He didn't even bark at my neighbor because he knew him.

The shock's over now, but I'm just kind of numb. We've lost all three of our dogs in the past six months. One died of cancer, one died of old age, and now Jake was shot.

I just... I can't believe it. The bastard shot my dog. He fucking shot my dog.

[Karthak]

I donīt know if itīs any consolation but that bastard is probably going to end up brutally killed one day if his downward spiral continues, so heīll get what he deserves.

[Jetsetlemming]

Killing a dog can't be the only thing he's charged for. He was shooting off his guns near your house, wasn't he? At the very least, go for a restraining order if he's out on the streets. You can't keep being neighbors with someone fucked up like that.

[Plekto]

1: Sue him for the replacement cost to get a new dog. Total no-brainer case in small claims court.
2: Keep the new dog inside.
3: get a lawyer.

Counts that come to mind.
- Discharge of a firearm. At least two counts due to two different weapons.
- Possession of a firearm if it was a handgun(I'm sure he applied for all of the proper permits - yeah, right) - in any case, he's not going to be buying another firearm for a very long time. The ones used were obviously confiscated. The police tend to store them in damp basements on purpose. It'll be a pile of rust if he ever gets them back.
- Cruelty to animals of course.
- Being drunk/disorderly in public.
And half a dozen the lawyer can come up with. Feel free to ream him for us. Oh - and make the judge at least force him to get into a program for his alcoholism.

And get a restraining order. If he literally steps foot on your property, don't ask, just call the police. I'm sure they are literally itching for any reason to lock him up as well. Messing with animals is just *barely* above messing with kids in their minds(and people in prison as well if he gets there)

But yeah - it sucks. What kind of person would possibly tell you about it and then go and get another gun and do it again?

[Beowulf]

Living the life I've lead I've seen some cold-blooded shit, but this is mindblowing. If the guy used a shotgun that means he walks up to this happy dog, fires at point blank (probably killing him instantly), pumps, fires again, pumps, fires again. That is extremely delibrate and remarkably violent. Mark my words, this guy is dangerous.

[ellie]

I'm sorry, Lacey. I don't know what to say to you, I know nothing I say will make it better. That man needs -serious- mental help. Deliberately hurting an animal is sadistic and evil. That man needs pyschiatric evaluation more than he needs jail. It sounds like he can't function in society.

[CrazyAce86]

He won't get charged with discharging a weapon, I don't think. I mean, c'mon, he target shoots in his backyard all the time. I live in the country-- 98% of the population of my road probably has guns.

He's back out on bond. His uncle took away all his guns, knives, and beer and locked it away from him. He's already back at our trailer, and is standing his front yard (our "backyard") and staring in the windows. And it's his yard, so it's not like we can charge him for trespassing. We don't even own the land. Our landlord is his stepgrandfather, who hates him as much as we do right now. He can't charge him with trespassing, either, because he also owns the land that he lives on; though, I suppose he could boot him off of it.

I doubt he will, though. It doesn't matter, because my dad's mother is going to sign over two acres for us to move our trailer to, over by where she lives. (A mountain and a half over from him, about twenty miles.)

I still just can't believe it. How could do that? And it was a single-barrel, single-shot shotgun, so he had to reload each time! And no, Jake didn't die instantly. The bastard was so drunk, he could even aim for a vital part so Jake didn't suffer; no, he aimed for the extremities, so Jake would suffer.

And he got out on bond.

Never before in my life have I ever hated the justice system more. And never before have I wished that Jack McCoy was real and could prosecute the bastard with an inch of his life.

I honestly don't know what all he's going to be charged with... But you know, it's my mother that's pressing charges. I think I'm going to, too. Because he came up on my deck and knocked on my door with a loaded shotgun with the intent to do further harm to my dog. Who knows, perhaps even myself-- hard to tell what was going in his whacked-out mind.

I told Robert (my fiancé in Germany for those that don't know), and he went, quote, "full power" and said it was good thing he wasn't over here, because he would've killed him. He knew my neighbor in high school. He said it would've been worth a lifetime in Leavenworth. Truth is, I'm glad he wasn't over here, because it wouldn't have been worth it to me. Why waste your life on a jackass who doesn't even know how precious life is?

And on top of all this, Robert left today to go out in the field for a month and a half and I won't hear from him until mid-October. And in about ten hours, I have an eye appointment. I'm friends with my eye doctor, and he's going to ask how I am. How do I respond to that?

The whole thing's fucked up.

My neighbor always was quiet in high school. Kept to himself. Guess it really is always the quiet ones.

[Plekto]

Discharging a firearm within a certain distance of another residence other than your own is always illegal. It's merely a matter of distance. If it's inside city limits at all, eever at the very edge but still inside, he's in a world of trouble.

Since you are there(renting?) you have the same rights as any other "neighbor". Of course, the lawyer will know this.

Sorry to hear - just be glad it wasn't someone in your family. And of course, MOVE. Far, far away. And get a restraining order, most definately. That stays on his record and flags him as a troublemaker from now on no matter where he moves to in the future.

[CrazyAce86]

Hmm, a restraining order is good idea. I'll tell my mother tomorrow. Can you file as a family or just individually?

[Daishikaze]

You can file as a family, no problem

[japanat]

This turkey's standing there, looking at your windows from his yard? Sounds just a little too Norman Bates for me. And as stated earlier, killing animals is often an intermediate step..

Not to sound cold-blooded, but are you living there alone right now? Do you have a legal (very important - register it) weapon, in case this idiot escalates? And... does your state have a "Make my Day" law?

In Colorado, if this idiot attempts to enter your home and you fear for your life, you have the legal right to off him. But if you step out on your porch to do it, you're going down for Murder 2, so don't!

My friend, a police officer in the Denver area, told me to:
1) Always attempt to escape first
2) If escape is impossible, don't even touch a gun unless you're willing to use it.
3) If you have to shoot in self-defense, make sure he dies; or you could be sued for bodily injury, his pain/suffering, ad nauseum.

Don't own it if you won't hold it, don't hold it if you won't point it, don't point it if you won't fire it, don't fire it w/o aiming it, and aim to kill.

[CrazyAce86]

No, it's my parents' place. I don't have the money for a place of my own, so I'm staying there until I get married in December.

He's not staying at his house; his mom came and gathered him and took him to her place, which is just up the road, but still further away. He's forbidden to be anywhere near us, but we're filing for a restraining order anyhow. My mother refuses to let me stay at home, at least for a week, so I'm staying with my aunt and uncle, a good hour away. He doesn't know where they live, so she thinks I'm safe there. Personally, I'm just extremely irritated by having been run out of my home. I'd honestly rather stay at the trailer and worry about him than be an hour away and worrying.

He's been charged with illegal discharge of a weapon, cruelty to animals, and some kind of trespassing charge. All three of which, I guarantee you, will not stick. Not in this backwater piece of good ol' USA. I mean, c'mon, he was drunk off his ass, possibly high, and running around with a shotgun.

And they let him out on bond.

In fact, the worst he'll probably get is to have to pay a $500 fine. That's it. It's beyond sickening. If this goes anywhere near a court, I'm going to see if there's some way he can get a psych evaluation, because obviously there's something not right with him. I know for a fact that cruelty to animals is one of the huge telltale signs for killers, both serial killers, mass murderers, and random killers.

We're hoping that he will at least serve a 60 day jail term, just long enough that he dries out and hopefully comes to his senses. Highly unlikely, of course, but right now it's the most we can hope for.

[Plekto]

Actually, that's why you get a lawyer.

Make the cruelty charge stick whatever you do. It's well worth the fees to nail him on that. This one I am positive 200% that the local police officers, and especially the ones that showed up at the scene and saw it in person will take off of work if need be to testify if you ask. I would - it's just above messing with kids in many people's books.

See, discharge of a weapon or trespassing, even if they are on his record mean almost nothing. Cruelty to animals is a red flag to anyone. It may be a misdemeanor, but 99% of employers will see it as equal to a felony. As it should be - he's a menace to society.