Colorado: Eric Miller, 53, accused of shooting and killing his neighbor's dog, burying it and then letting his neighbor continue searching for him

COLORADO -- A Gilpin County man is facing animal cruelty charges after a neighbor accused him of shooting and burying the neighbor's dog earlier this month near Rollinsville.

Eric R. Miller, 53, was issued a summons Wednesday for felony aggravated animal cruelty and petty theft, according to spokeswoman Pam Russell with the First Judicial District Attorney's Office, which prosecutes crimes in Gilpin and Jefferson counties.

Miller, who could not be reached for comment, has not had a first court appearance scheduled yet. Because it is a summons, he will not be taken into custody.

Joshua Davis, who lives on Pactolus Lake Road east of Rollinsville, said that just after noon Oct. 11, some friends of his who were on his property told him they heard a gunshot and what sounded like a dog yelping for about 45 seconds before a few more shots rang out.

They said that the sound appeared to be coming from Miller's neighboring property.

When Davis realized his 2-year-old Akita mix, Ragnar, was missing, he began searching the woods surrounding his house, while his friends drove to Miller's property to investigate. They saw Miller on the property with what appeared to be an AR-15 rifle, Davis said, but Miller claimed he did not shoot any dog.

Davis said he searched for his dog for about four hours.

The next day, Davis and some friends returned to Miller's property after Miller had left and found a blood trail behind Miller's house that led to a shallow grave, where they said they found Ragnar's body.

Davis said Ragnar had two apparent gunshot wounds to his chest and that his collar was missing.

"It was pretty awful," Davis said. "I can't believe it. He was such a loving dog."

Davis said he called the Gilpin County Sheriff's Office to report the incident.

Miller is a building inspector who contracts with Gilpin County, but county officials said he was not working at the time of the alleged incident.

Gilpin County Sheriff's Sgt. Sean Wheeler could not comment on the case other than to say that it was investigated and turned over to the First Judicial District for charging.

Davis called the shooting of his dog "evil."

"It's just a (expletive) thing to do," Davis said. "I don't know how else to say it."

(Daily Camera - Oct 22, 2015)