Police: Man killed pet dog he mistook for coyote, took it to taxidermist
A Mount Braddock man is in jail after he allegedly shot a pet dog, thinking it was a coyote, and took it to a taxidermist to be mounted.
Justin Robert Hall, 18, of of 126 Piper Hollow Road is charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, cruelty to animals, recklessly endangering another person and summary hunting violations.
The dog, Wren, was a 4-year-old German shepherd/Collie mix who got loose from his nearby home during the storm two days before, the owner, Jennifer Sypien told police, according to court paperwork.
According to the affidavit of probable cause filed in Hall’s case, Adrienne Hice called state police to tell them her teenage daughters heard a gunshot, then saw a man loading a dead dog into his pickup truck and drive away shortly after they saw it walking in the street at 9 a.m. Friday. Police interviewed Hall that evening, who said he saw an animal he believed to be a coyote harassing his loose chickens from his second-floor bedroom window. He saw the animal walk toward his dog and told it to “Get,” he said. He then loaded his 6.5-mm Creedmore rifle and shot it once while it was in the street. He said he took it to a taxidermist to be mounted.
State police retrieved the dog from a taxidermist on Jefferson Street, and confirmed the dog was Wren. He had “an obvious gunshot wound to the head,” police said. The taxidermist told troopers Hall brought the dog to him to be stuffed.
Hall reportedly told police he is a hunter, and knows you must be more than 100 yards from a residence to shoot an animal.
He is lodged in Fayette County Prison in lieu of a $5,000 bond.
A candlelight vigil is planned in memory of the dog at 8 p.m. Friday at Smitty’s Bar & Restaurant.