More dog shootings...

[flintknapper]

(.22 air rifle, maybe?)

That's what I'm thinking. There are some really powerful airguns available,and one could definitely use any of them to do this.
JL

A very real possibility.

[Skiprr]

(.22 air rifle, maybe?)

That's what I'm thinking. There are some really powerful airguns available, and one could definitely use any of them to do this.

I hadn't considered that, but you guys are absolutely right. There are options like these: http://www.gamousa.com/Catalog.aspx?Category=1. Some of 'em produce decent velocities with a pellet.

[KD5NRH]

UPDATE: Read carefully, this gets interesting.
http://www.empiretribune.com/articles/2 ... 149510.txt" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Hunt for dog killer continues
By WHITNEY WHITE-ASHLEY
Staff Writer
Whitney.ashley@empiretribune.com
Published: Thursday, November 20, 2008 9:06 AM CST
As families on Liberty Street in Dublin continue to grieve over the loss of several family pets, Dublin police continue to search for the person(s) responsible for shooting and killing the beloved dogs.

“We are taking this seriously and we are trying to figure out who did this,” said Sgt. Ken Drozeski. “We will prosecute them.”

The investigation has faced a few challenges along the way. One cause of death was changed from being shot to being mauled by another very large dog. In the other cases, however, lack of evidence is hampering the investigation. “The problem that we’re having is that there are no witnesses and no traceable evidence,” Drozeski said.

Investigators are now uncertain if all of the dogs were shot by the same person or with the same caliber weapon.

“Some of the wounds are the same, but not all of the wounds are the same,” Drozeski said.

A few leads have trickled in, but nothing has panned out so far.

Drozeski said the department is used to dealing with animal cruelty cases but has never faced anything of this magnitude. Generally, the cases they handle involve neglect, meaning the owner is not providing adequate food, water or shelter for the animal.

He said the city had a problem a few years ago with people organizing chicken fights, but after cracking down on those involved and sending a few people to jail, the problem has subsided.

Under Texas law, the shootings are classified as cruelty to non-livestock animals, a class A misdemeanor. If convicted, the person(s) responsible for shooting and killing the family pets could be fined up to $5,000 and sentenced up to five years in jail per incident. If the offender has a prior conviction, the penalties get tougher.

Cruelty to animals classified as livestock carries a steeper penalty in Texas. That offense is a state jail felony and an offender faces up to a $10,000 fine and two to 10 years in prison per incident.

Drozeski urges anyone with information about the Dublin dog shootings to contact police at 254-445-3455.

Now, I've seen some mauled animals, and I've never yet seen one that could be easily mistaken for the types of shootings described in the previous articles. (1-2 shots per dog with small caliber weapons) Why did it take a week or more to figure that out?

Also, we're looking at a total of five dogs killed and one injured in three separate incidents. The only one that was alone when attacked is described as having a single small-caliber through-and-through wound to the shoulder/chest. Now if only one dog was mauled, which of the other two incidents involved a dog being mauled and one or two others being shot on the same night at the same address, and what is the relationship between those events?

[barres]

It is entirely possible that one dog was, indeed shot, but the shot did not kill it. Then the other dog in the yard with it killed it by mauling it, when it smelled blood. The first dog was shot by the perp, but the cause of death was technically the mauling, not the shot. My argument is that the mauling would almost assuredly never have taken place in that scenario (which I admit is only my idea of what took place, I have no inside information) had the first dog not been shot. No blood scent = no mauling. Therefore the perp is still responsible for the dog's death, even if his shot didn't kill it.

I'm getting mad reading and typing this stuff. I'm going to a different thread.

[KD5NRH]

It is entirely possible that one dog was, indeed shot, but the shot did not kill it. Then the other dog in the yard with it killed it by mauling it, when it smelled blood.

Possible, but they specified "very large dog" as if it must be somewhat larger than the victim; though there were two different sizes of dogs involved, no dogs of significantly different sizes were fenced together...or so the stories say. At this rate, I half expect them to clarify any day now that one of the dogs was actually a cow, and was killed in Dublin Ireland.

The survivor of the three-dog incident, Rollo, was implied to be smaller than the two GSDs, but I didn't get the impression that the size difference was significant, and he couldn't have been the fatal mauling victim anyway.

Either way, we're back to the question of why nobody noticed dogs in pain and/or rage in the early morning hours in an area where they would be maybe 150ft from a neighbor's bedroom window. I have to suspect that there are at least some neighbors who know a lot more than they're telling.