Dog that was shot was attacking cat

GEORGIA -- A Villa Rica man told police he shot a dog because it was attacking his cat.

On Sunday an American bulldog named Xander escaped from a Poole Road residence, along with the family’s pit bull. An hour later Xander bleeding profusely from two gunshot wounds.

Two days later a man came forward and said the dog had attacked his cat.

“It was a neighbor that lived within eyesight of the house,” said Villa Rica Police Department Capt. Keith Shaddix. “The person had a 13-year-old cat that was on his front porch, a family pet. The dogs were attacking the cat. He tried to get the dogs off the cat and couldn’t do it and so he shot the dog.”

Xander’s left leg was amputated and the dog is recovering at home, while the cat had to be euthanized after going to the vet that night. The dog’s owner has been told what happened. Police said she feels bad about the incident and plans to talk to the man.

No charges are being filed against either pet owner. Police verified the man’s story as he showed them cat hair and blood on his front porch, the spot in the back yard where the cat was buried and receipts from when it was put down.

“I think they feel bad about somebody else losing their family pet,” said Shaddix. “The only thing he did wrong was he should have notified us of what happened. ... What he did was what anybody would do. You do what you have to to protect your property and pets.”

Ashley Hanson, the dog’s owner, said Xander is an inside dog that lives with two toddlers and has no history of violence. At first, she didn’t understand why the dog had been shot.

“They were aiming to kill my dog,” she said Monday. “It was a chest shot.”

The dogs left the house through a door that had accidentally been left cracked open. Police initially traced the dog’s blood back to a cul-de-sac where Poole Road dead ends, but were left with no leads before the man came forward and said it was his .22 caliber gun that shot the dog.

“He did what was necessary,” said Shaddix. “I don’t find that it’s unreasonable.”

(The Villa Rican - November 1, 2013)