Cops: Palatine Man Shot Neighbor's Dog, Mistaking It For Coyote
PALATINE, Ill. (STMW) -- A northwest suburban Palatine man was charged with animal cruelty for shooting his neighbor's dog, lured to his yard by a deer carcass. He allegedly told police he thought the dog was a coyote.
Piotr Holy initially denied he shot Willy, a neighbor's 9-year-old German Shepherd mix who apparently trotted into his backyard to investigate the deer carcass Holy kept on his property in the 1100 block of South Brockway St., police said.
Holy, 40, later admitted he shot the dog thinking it was a coyote, the release from Palatine police alleges. He explained he used the carcass to lure coyotes to his backyard, where he would shoot them.
Willy's owner, a 31-year-old Palatine woman, called police about 1:45 a.m., the release said. The dog got away from her after she was trying to leash him, and as she was calling him to come back, she heard what she thought was a single gunshot.
She found the dog lying bleeding in a yard in the 1100 block of South Smith Street and carried him home before driving him to an animal hospital in Arlington Heights, the release said. The dog died during surgery.
Palatine police confirmed he had been shot with a small caliber bullet after viewing x-rays and speaking with medical staff, the release said.
Holy, later told police he heard the animal cry out in pain after he shot it, which was not typical of a coyote based on his past experience, police said.
He is charged with one count of felony aggravated cruel treatment of an animal, as well as obstructing a peace officer, reckless conduct, the release said. He was also charged with unlawfully discharging a firearm while hunting within 300 yards of an inhabited dwelling without permission.
Police also confiscated two .22 caliber rifles from his home, police said. Holy will appear at a bond hearing in Thursday at the Maywood courthouse.
(Source: Sun-Times Media Wire © Chicago Sun-Times 2013. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
