ELYRIA, OH — A man has been vindicated by a grand jury after shooting and killing a neighbor’s dog and claiming that it was in the defense of his own pet, The Chronicle reports.
According to The Chronicle, Lorain County prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury to consider a felony charge of cruelty to animals and a charge of discharging a firearm within city limits against 28-year-old Timothy Kilgore, but the grand jury was not convinced that any charges should be pressed.
As The Chronicle reports:
Kilgore’s attorney, Kenneth Lieux, said additional evidence — in the form of photographs, witness testimony and the veterinarian records for Kilgore’s two dogs — was presented to the prosecutor’s office and grand jury.
“We presented information that the neighbor’s dog had previously attacked the Kilgores’ dogs and lunged at their 2-year-old daughter,” Lieux said. “On the date in question, the neighbor’s dog had latched onto the leg of their puppy and was attempting to pull it through the fence. We are grateful for the decision of the Lorain County grand jury.”
On Jan. 8, Kilgore’s wife, Kristen Kilgore, told police she had let her German shepherd puppy out into the backyard of their Brace Avenue home about 2 p.m. She said she looked out the window and saw her neighbor’s husky with his head through the fence, attacking her puppy. Kristen Kilgore told police she screamed and ran outside to get her dog. She said her husband came out of the house with his shotgun and fired once at the neighbor’s dog.
The dog, a 4-year-old Siberian husky named Nemo, belonged to Vickie Galloway. Galloway had told police she had ongoing conflicts with the Kilgores and had tried to avoid letting her dogs outside when the neighbor’s dogs were outside.
The poor husky — it sounds like another case of a pet parent failing to train their animal to behave in a manner conducive to interacting with society.
I mean, hey — if the animal lunged at an infant, that’s really the end of the matter. Part of being a responsible citizen is bringing up one’s dependents — pets included — in such a manner that they will not be a threat to society. If you play your cards right, you might even manage to leave a positive impact.
Hopefully Galloway will take some time and think before adopting another animal.
What do you think about this story? Please share this on Facebook and Twitter and let us know!