JOJO Is a Victim of Animal Cruelty

I am so upset  can barely type.  Our sweet energetic JOJO was shot my by neighbor, Mr. Gary Quave, at 2 pm yesterday.  Below is the explanation of what happened that I sent to the Dead Pelican.  I also intend to send this to other newspaper outlets.  Feel free to pass this along to let the public know what we will not tolerate this behavior.

JoJo was a lab mix, female, about 10 months old and weighed approximately 25 pounds.  She was sweet, energetic, and a fence jumper so she was always inside so I could train her to be a great house dog for a future owner.  While I was cleaning kennels, I let her out into the yard.. She wandered off to a neighbors house. She was not off my property for more than 10 minutes when I heard a gun shot extrememly close to my house.  I ran to where it came from and saw my neighbor crouching down and carrying something black into the woods. I asked him if everything was okay.  He said yes.  I looked around and no JOJO,  I called her.  She did not come.  She was the most reliable dog I had for recall.  I ran to the woods where I saw him throw something.  I found her body. He was getting into his running truck when I confronted him.  He said he didn't know it was my dog and that she had growled and snarled at him.  He said he thought she was a stray. I did not hear her bark or growl or him hollering at a dog to chase it off and I was 75 to 100' away.  He is lying. He just shot her in the head with a shotgun at close range.  I've never had a complaint from this man about any of our dogs. I do not let any of them roam free nor do they bark excessively. Even the police officer said she never hears the dogs barking when she makes her daily ride through our area. From his demeanor when he was taking her into the woods, I know he thought I might see him.  Now I am afraid he might do something to my other dogs. He knew we operated a rescue and his grown son even had one of our labs on a trial basis.  Why didn't he just yell and ask me if she was one of our rescues?   He clearly knew I was in the yard with the dogs. The only answer to that question is that he intended to kill her.

He was given a summons for simple cruelty to animals.  He was not charged with aggravated cruelty eventhough I believe it was malicious intent. He was only given a warning for discharging a weapon inside the city limits.  I was given a summons for a dog at large - no warning ticket.  I have never been cited for this offense so as a first time offense one would think I should have received a warning. This is a rural area.  I have 12 acres and at no time do I allow a dog to roam. 

I am afraid the local police department and judge will not take this seriously.  If this man thinks it is okay to just shoot a dog at point blank range then I fear he will do it again.  He should have been given a summons for a weapons charge.  He is a quiet man with a family who has a job and pastors a church.  He may seem like a mild manner fellow, but I have serious doubts about his mental status.  I think the law requires a psychological evaluation when someone is convicted of cruelty to animals. I need the press to push for this because I am afraid to live next door to the lunatic.  The court date is 11/28/11 at 6 pm at the Killian town hall.

I don't know if you can help, but I would like the public to know what happened.  I want the local police department to know that the public is watching and will not tolerate this kind of behavior.  I want the judge to know we expect more than a slap on the wrist.  But most of all, I want my JOJO back.  That will never happen because this lunatic took her life.