Massachusetts: Cocker Spaniel shot six times by hunters who then ran off, leaving him to die

MASSACHUSETTS -- A 6-year-old cocker spaniel was killed Saturday morning when she was shot six times in the throat by hunters in a wooded area off Head of the Meadow Road, police said.

“This is just a horrible, horrible thing. If you think about it, for someone to shoot a friendly 28-pound cocker spaniel with a pink collar that jingles, it's just terrible,” said Sophie’s owner, Kenneth Dutra, 70, in tears. “I don’t know how my wife and I are going to get through this.”

Dutra has been the off-season caretaker of the North of Highland Campground for 20 years. Sophie and her 5-year-old brother, Sammy, have always accompanied him on his weekly surveillance of the campground, he said.

Dutra was on the premises Saturday morning when he saw two men in orange hunting gear in the area, so he whistled to call his two dogs to the car, he said.

As he was getting Sammy into the car, he heard several shots fired and walked into the campsite and found Sophie bleeding profusely, struggling to stay alive. The hunters had fled the area, he said.

He rushed the dog to the Truro Police Department where rescuers tried to keep her alive. She was pronounced dead at a veterinarian's office in Eastham a short while later.

Truro Police Sgt. Carrie DeAngelo is investigating the incident. She said on Saturday afternoon that the dog was most likely shot by rabbit hunters in an area of the woodland where the sport is permitted.

DeAngelo is familiar with Dutra and both of his dogs and said that Sophie is a friendly dog who most likely ran over to the hunters to “say hi.” Rabbit hunting season spans from the first Saturday after Columbus Day and continues until the following last day of February. Dutra believes that the hunters didn’t misidentify his perky friendly dog for a rabbit.

“I’ve hunted myself over the years and I would never ever do something like this,” said Dutra, whose son is an animal control officer. “It is a big joke for some people ... to shoot and kill a fox or some other animal that would never bother them.”

Anyone with information on the incident can call the Truro Police Department at 508-487-8730. The Massachusetts Environmental Police are also investigating.

(Capecodonline - ‎Dec 21, 2014‎)