skyhightree1
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http://www.nbc12.com/story/27724268/din ... estigation
DINWIDDIE, VA (WWBT) - Dinwiddie Animal Control officers are investigating whether the deaths of eight dogs -- some attacked, others shot -- were cruel acts of nature or of man.
After owning his two 3-year-old beagle mixes since they were puppies, this is something Dinwiddie hunter Scott Jessup never saw coming.
"I hold my dogs near and dear to my heart," he said. "That night I couldn't sleep."
Jessup had sent his hunting dogs Bubba and Toot into the woods the day after Christmas, not knowing they'd never come home. Using a GPS tracker, he found one of them.
"The dog was maimed up around the neck. Had a broken neck and broken upper body. You could see it had a couple puncture wounds. It looks like a dog or something killed it," he said.
Twenty yards away, he found his other pet, also dead.
"If I walk in the woods and see my dog laying there dead, I automatically know it was done out of spite. If I seen my dog dead and it was partially eaten, then I'd know right then and there it wasn't a dog, it was a coyote," Jessup said.
Shortly afterwards, Animal Control officers received calls from two more hunters. Their dogs were also killed. Three had been shot. Eight were killed at about the same time around Hobbs Mill Road near the Nottoway County line.
"It's very suspicious. We walked through the woods looking for other evidence -- blood, blood trails. To get to three of the dogs we had to walk through a small swamp to get to where three of them were at to collect that evidence," said officer Alvin Langley.
Now three of the dogs are heading to a state lab to determine whether they had been shot as well, and if so, whether the shooter had any right to pull the trigger.
"They can tell us which way the bullet went in, was the dog facing you, to the side of you, running away from you," Langley said.
"If they get caught, I think they need to be held accountable for their actions and let the gavel drop," Jessup said.
As investigators work to get to the bottom of this any help from the public is welcomed. Anyone with information can call 804-469-3758.
Officers warn shooting and killing a dog comes with a felony animal cruelty charge.
DINWIDDIE, VA (WWBT) - Dinwiddie Animal Control officers are investigating whether the deaths of eight dogs -- some attacked, others shot -- were cruel acts of nature or of man.
After owning his two 3-year-old beagle mixes since they were puppies, this is something Dinwiddie hunter Scott Jessup never saw coming.
"I hold my dogs near and dear to my heart," he said. "That night I couldn't sleep."
Jessup had sent his hunting dogs Bubba and Toot into the woods the day after Christmas, not knowing they'd never come home. Using a GPS tracker, he found one of them.
"The dog was maimed up around the neck. Had a broken neck and broken upper body. You could see it had a couple puncture wounds. It looks like a dog or something killed it," he said.
Twenty yards away, he found his other pet, also dead.
"If I walk in the woods and see my dog laying there dead, I automatically know it was done out of spite. If I seen my dog dead and it was partially eaten, then I'd know right then and there it wasn't a dog, it was a coyote," Jessup said.
Shortly afterwards, Animal Control officers received calls from two more hunters. Their dogs were also killed. Three had been shot. Eight were killed at about the same time around Hobbs Mill Road near the Nottoway County line.
"It's very suspicious. We walked through the woods looking for other evidence -- blood, blood trails. To get to three of the dogs we had to walk through a small swamp to get to where three of them were at to collect that evidence," said officer Alvin Langley.
Now three of the dogs are heading to a state lab to determine whether they had been shot as well, and if so, whether the shooter had any right to pull the trigger.
"They can tell us which way the bullet went in, was the dog facing you, to the side of you, running away from you," Langley said.
"If they get caught, I think they need to be held accountable for their actions and let the gavel drop," Jessup said.
As investigators work to get to the bottom of this any help from the public is welcomed. Anyone with information can call 804-469-3758.
Officers warn shooting and killing a dog comes with a felony animal cruelty charge.
