The suspect believes the shooting was justified.
State police said one-and-a-half-year-old dog, Georgia, was shot in the head three times and was killed near Washingtonville.
Georgia was the pet of the White family.
"I am a very sensitive person. I believe in life, all life," said owner James White.
"I almost started crying when I was on the phone and got a call from my brother that she was shot. I was almost speechless," said Jonathan White.
Police said Georgia was tied to a tree by a neighbor and then shot. It happened in Suzanne Thomas' yard.
Tank, one of Georgia's pups, was with her mother at the time of the shooting but was not hurt.
Thomas raises pet rabbits. She said Georgia wandered on to her property. Thomas said she found the dogs on the inside of a fenced in area near the rabbit cages.
Suzanne Thomas said when she came out and found her pet rabbit dead all she could think about was shooting the dog. She is convinced the dog killed her pet rabbit.
She told police and Newswatch 16 she shot the animal.
"We have cats, we have other dogs, there is tons of rabbits, there is pheasants, groundhogs. She never once chased one, let alone killed one," said owner Astin White.
Georgia way buried in the family's back yard. Now the family only has memories of the dog.
"Sitting in my Lazy Boy chair, laying on my lap, stretched out at night, up in our bedroom. She would sleep in our dirty clothes hamper," added James White.
Earlier: A Montour County woman said she wouldn't have shot and killed a dog that had killed her pet rabbit if she had known it was owned by her neighbor.
State police told Suzanne Thomas that she would be cited with animal cruelty in the shooting death of Georgia, an 18-month-old yellow Labrador retriever.
"I had never seen that dog ever before," Thomas said Monday. "I thought it was a stray. It had a cheap plastic collar, no license and no rabies tags. It was a killer dog."
"I have never been bothered by an animal before," she said.
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| The farm where the dog was shot |
Thomas said police confiscated the .22-caliber rifle she used to shoot the dog three times. "They told me I might not get the gun back for a year because it's a crime. There's no way I thought it was a crime," she said.
Investigating officer trooper Jason Caccia said Monday he planned to file the cruelty charge against Thomas. He said it may be classified as a misdemeanor. The penalty can vary -- it could include a heavy fine and probation -- and is up to the district judge, he said.
White, 56, was listed as the owner of Georgia and Georgia's 11-week-old puppy, Tank. Caccia said a non-traffic citation will be filed against the person who let the dogs out. He said the actual owner was out of state at the time.
According to police, the dog and her puppy got into Thomas' fenced-in yard, where her 20 rabbits are kept in outside hutches along Hillside Road in Derry Township.
Police said Thomas tied Georgia to a tree and shot her three times.
Dog barking
Thomas, 56, said she heard her outside dog barking about 4:30 or 5 p.m. Saturday. "I kept hearing this other dog and went outside to look and couldn't find anything. I looked out the front window and saw two dogs terrorizing my rabbits," she said. "They had climbed a three-foot fence. I have lived here 20 years and never had a loose dog. They left a couple of the rabbits loose, and one was killed. I saw it was a killer dog and thought I was allowed to protect my pet rabbits."
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| Thomas said rabbits had been torn from their hutches |
Thomas said she didn't actually see the rabbit being attacked, but said the dead rabbit was lying next to Georgia.
(Daily Item - Jan 24, 2012 and WNEP - Jan 25, 2012)
