Police said the dog was shot after the 4-year-old pit bull attacked a Yorkshire terrier owned by Wells’ neighbor in Marysville. But Wells, 28, can’t believe it.
“I’ve had her around a lot of animals,” Wells said. “She’s never been aggressive towards them.”
Wells and Lindsey Reid, his live-in girlfriend, have been trying to piece together the events of May 8 that resulted in their neighbor, Tom Dickinson, shooting Daysi and Reid’s 4-month-old puppy. Reid said the puppy, a pit bull/boxer mix named “Puppy,” died after being shot.
Reid said she heard gunshots about five or 10 minutes after she let Daysi and Puppy into their backyard at 418 Eighth St. in Marysville. When she went outside, Dickinson came from behind her shed and accused Daysi of attacking his Yorkie, Reid said.
“I didn’t think he really shot them or anything like that,” Reid, 19, said. “I just thought he would shoot them in the air or something.”
But when she saw Puppy walk into her living room and collapse, she knew he was seriously injured.
“I knew he was a goner already because I saw the wound on his side,” Reid said. “And then, I called Daysi over to me. And Daysi was bleeding from the mouth. And I just freaked out.”
Dickinson gave a statement to the Times Herald about the incident.
“I sought legal counsel and I took reasonable action under the circumstances,” he said. “My dog was attacked and in imminent danger of death.”
He wouldn’t comment further.
The incident occurred about 4:30 p.m. May 8, Marysville Police Chief Tim Buelow said in an email to the Times Herald. An old, wooden privacy fence separates the yards in Marysville.
In his email, Buelow said the man who lives next door to Wells and Reid was in his back yard when his Yorkie and his neighbors’ two dogs began barking at each other through the fence. One of the neighbors’ dogs, a pit bull, crashed her head through the fence, breaking one of the boards, and grabbed the Yorkie — dragging it back into the neighbor’s yard, according to Buelow.
According to Buelow, the pit bull was mauling the Yorkie when the man broke through the fence to rescue his dog. He used a licensed handgun to shoot the pit bull, Buelow said. When the second dog came after him, he shot it once. He then called 911 to report the incident.
Two Marysville police officers responded along with a St. Clair County deputy to take the report.
Buelow stated the incident appears to be a case of self defense. Marysville’s ordinance states a person may not discharge a firearm in the city except when acting in defense or at an established range.
The report is being sent to the St. Clair County prosecutor for review of the shooting and Maryville’s city attorney for review referencing vicious dogs.
Wells isn’t sure how the Yorkie got into his yard, but he thinks his neighbor shot the dogs because he doesn’t like their breed.
Wells said he doesn’t believe Daysi would attack another dog. After measuring the fence’s hole, he said her head wouldn’t fit far enough into it to pull the small dog through and into his yard.
Daysi might have nipped at the dog or played “too rough” with the Yorkie when it came into his yard, Wells said. But if his dog had been aggressive, his neighbor’s small dog would have been seriously injured, Wells said.
“I see it jumping up and down up in his upstairs window barking at me,” Wells said. “... From what I hear, there was really no ... real, real wounds on the dog.”
Wells said he could understand Dickinson shooting Daysi if she had attacked him or his dog on his own property. But Wells said he should have called the police instead of breaking down their fence to retrieve his dog.
Reid also disagreed with her neighbor’s actions.
“He had no right to come into my yard and shoot at all,” Reid said.
(Times Herald - May. 18, 2012)
