BENZIE COUNTY -- A Benzie County woman is in shock after she says a neighbor shot her dog.
7&4's Kate Fox spoke with the pet owner who can't understand why this all happened.
Karyleann Howard says, "I was totally off struck, I heard the shot, I heard her get hit, I just screamed he shot my dog! He shot my dog!"
Howard says around 8:00am Thursday morning her beloved companion, named Miss Holly Ann, was shot by her neighbor and left yelping in pain.
Howard says, "it grazed the arterial artery in her back leg and bleed profusely."
She immediately called 9-1-1.
Benzie County Undersheriff Bill Sholten says, "The dog owner, at that time, thought her dog was dying, actually at that time thought it was dead."
While Animal Control rushed the dog to the vet, deputies started their investigation.
Benzie County Undersheriff Sholten says, "There was undisturbed snow which allowed us to gain some information as to where the dog had been and the direction the shots came from."
That led them to the next door neighbor.
Benzie County Undersheriff Sholten says, "There’s no indication the pet was being aggressive in any way, there's no suggestion that there's been previous complaints of the animal or an on going situation."
We went to the neighbor’s house and spoke to the wife of the shooter. She says it was an accident and that the gun shot wasn't intended to hit the dog, only meant to scare it off the property.
Howard says, "He should have said something to me, I would have put her on the chain automatically and that would have been the end of the story."
Benzie County Undersheriff Sholten says the shooter is likely facing charges and that "people should not take it upon themselves to shoot animals."
For now Howard is focused on nursing her pup back to health and in the future she plans to do everything in her power to protect all her animals.
Howard says, "I'll keep her inside, I'm terrified of the neighbors, if one of the dogs should get loose, I don't know how they would react. We'll keep her on the leash from now on, evidently they made their point."
