Video appears to show man shooting dog with air rifle in Pittsburgh
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Home surveillance video appears to show a man stalking and shooting a dog with an air rifle in Pittsburgh's Carrick neighborhood early on Friday morning.
The video appears to show a dog running along a street, and a man following it. Shots from what appears to be an air rifle can then be heard as the man yells something at the dog. The dog then begins to limp.
A police officer with the Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh is investigating what happened.
KDKA-TV spoke with a woman who says her son heard a dog yelping in the middle of the night. She asked KDKA-TV not to share her name because she fears retaliation.
"I was horrified," the woman said. "It brought back memories of my dog that just passed away in December, and I was suspicious of something similar."
She was suspicious because before her dog died, he had been urinating blood and no one could explain why. She said a veterinarian told her they could not tell if the dog had been shot by a BB gun. But after seeing the video, it's starting to make sense to her.
"That was a yellow lab and mine was a black lab. Is it someone who has a hatred for labs? I don't know. Jealousy? I don't know. They are just the most kindest dogs. Why someone would hurt them is beyond me," the woman said.
By speaking out, she hopes someone recognizes the person who shot the dog. She also strongly believes someone along her street has a video that shows a clearer view of the man's face.
She contacted a police officer with the investigations team at the Humane Rescue of Pittsburgh.
"Their officer said it's under investigation," she said. "And when they saw the video, they said, 'Oh, wow. That's a felony shooting, that's animal cruelty.' And then they said do you know if the dog is alive and I said I have no idea."
It's something that is tough for her on its own.
"Because what I witnessed with my own dog, and it's traumatizing to me that someone can treat someone's pet that way," the woman said.
She thinks about how the dog's owner may not understand what happened to their dog, just like how she does not understand what happened to hers.
KDKA-TV reached out to the investigations team at Humane Animal Rescue of Pittsburgh but did not hear back on Friday.