Winona Co. Man Accused Of Fatally Shooting Neighbor's Dog
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A rural Winona County man could face up to two years in prison for fatally shooting his neighbor's dog.
Dale Orville Douglas, 46, was charged Wednesday with two counts of mistreating animals in connection to last Friday's shooting.
According to the criminal complaint, Douglas' neighbor says they let their beagle run outside early Friday evening. When the dog came back 20 minutes later, it was short of breath and acted sick.
The owner noticed there was a wound on the dog's right side and called the sheriff's office. By the time a deputy arrived, the beagle had died.
The owner told the deputy the next day that they noticed the beagle's paw prints in Douglas' yard. Douglas denied shooting the dog when confronted by the owner, suggesting that it probably died of a heart attack.
An investigator spoke with Douglas on Monday, where he revealed that he did shoot the beagle with a pellet gun after it kept trying to squabble with his dog.
Douglas said he only wanted to scare the beagle away, and he didn't intend to kill the animal.
The investigator asked Douglas if he felt personally threatened by the dog, or feared that the beagle would do major harm to his dog. Douglas said he knew the beagle was not after him, and he wasn't sure if the beagle posed a serious threat to his dog.
When Douglas gave his pellet gun to the investigator later that day, he asked if he had the right to shoot the beagle if he felt "threatened." The investigator said that would contradict Douglas' previous statements.
Douglas' first court appearance is set for April 1 in Winona.
