ILLINOIS -- When Gene Shores went to investigate a commotion in his front yard Wednesday, an all-too-familiar sight greeted him: his maimed dog, lying dead in the driveway. It was the third time in four years one of Shores' dogs was killed.
"She was a sweet little dog, and she was part of our family," said Shores, 57, of his Chihuahua-poodle mix, Gizzy.
Shores said his neighbor's large dogs are responsible for the deaths of his pets, and he blames his neighbor, Steve Ferguson, for allowing his dogs outside without a leash.
Shores said another neighbor reported seeing someone pulling Ferguson's mastiff, Tony, out of her yard just after the commotion.
"He thinks his dog can run wherever it wants," Shores said. "He thinks he doesn't have to put his dog on a leash."
While there are leash laws in Knoxville, no Illinois law penalizes an owner or the animal for biting another animal, said Roger Underwood, animal control officer for the Knox County Sheriff's Department.
"That's one thing the state lags in," Underwood said. "We do try to limit the problem, but the state really has no laws on dog-on-dog attacks."
While an officer issued Ferguson a citation for not having his dog on a leash, there isn't much more the police can do, making the incident a civil issue, Underwood said.
But to Shores and Paula Hendricks, who also owned the dog, something needs to be done.
"I don't know how many puppies this dog has to mutilate before they'll do something," said Hendricks, 60.
"A lot of people say they won't even walk by here anymore because you don't know if the dog is going to tear you up or not."
Ferguson declined to comment on the incident.
"I don't know anything about it, (but) he should keep his dogs in his yard," Ferguson said.
Pets of a handful of other neighbors have died under similar circumstances.
The unfortunate part is that there are few witnesses, said former neighbor Sharon Larson, 69, of Knoxville.
"Animals just end up dead in their yards or disappear."
Shores and Hendricks said they are considering civil action.
"I talked to (the police), and they said to put a value on the dog," Shores said.
"But how do you put a price on that? You can say she was worth $100, $200, $500 - but she was priceless."
(PJStar - June 15, 2012)
