Gardnerville man gets 6 months for shooting his dog

NEVADA -- A Gardnerville man who admitted shooting dozens of bullets and killing a dog that bit him has been sentenced to six months in jail.

James Skiman, 61, was taken into custody immediately following his sentencing Wednesday by Justice of the Peace Tom Perkins in Minden, the Record-Courier reported.

Skiman pleaded guilty in February to misdemeanor charges of unlawful discharge of a firearm and cruelty to animals.

“You picked up a firearm in a residential area, and destroyed an animal in an inhumane way,” Perkins said.

“Whatever is going on with you is out of control,” Perkins said.

Skiman apologized in court.

“I would never do it again. I regret having done it,” he said.

Perkins ordered Skiman to undergo counseling when he gets out of jail and forbade him from having animals, controlled substances or alcohol, or weapons while on probation.

In exchange for Skiman’s guilty pleas, a charge of possession of a firearm with a blood-alcohol content of more than .10 was dismissed.

Skiman said he was cleaning his .45-calliber handgun, when Banner, an 11-year-old English pointer mix, bit him in the face in an unprovoked attack in November.

Skiman was still firing the handgun at the dog when deputies arrived at his Rubio Way home around 9:30 p.m.

Reports indicated he fired 27 rounds at the dog, and at least eight bullets hit the animal.

According to the sheriff’s office news release, Skiman “wanted to make sure the dog was dead and continued to shoot the dog because it was still moving. He did not know what to do but wanted to kill the dog so it would not bite him again.”

[For some reason, after reading the original story I get the idea that this POS would get drunk and loud and belligerent and beat on this dog. This dog probably went crazy being locked up in this house with this idiot and went cujo on him. In fact, remember in "Cujo" when he's first getting sick and he's with the dad and his drinking buddy and they're loud and throwing cans and making noise and Cujo whines and gets up trying to get away from the noise? I picture it like this guy.]
A consecutive six-month jail term also imposed by the judge was suspended for two years.

(Gardnerville Record-Courier - March 13, 2014)