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Dog killed after neighbor said he felt threatened
By
David Harten
This article was published April 12, 2012 at 10:54 a.m.
- Comments (22)
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LITTLE ROCK — An incident involving a German Shepherd ended with the dog's death when a officials say a Little Rock man felt his life was in danger and shot it.
Horace Matthews shot the 6-month-old dog after it and another dog belonging to his neighbor entered his yard and Matthews felt the dogs became aggressive, according to Pulaski County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Carl Minden. After calling 911, Matthews grabbed a shotgun and fired, killing one dog while the other ran off.
The incident occurred about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday at 2513 Stephanie Drive, according to the report.
Minden said Matthews was within his rights to defend himself and his property if he felt threatened in his yard. No charges are expected to be filed and no fines are expected to be issued from the sheriff's office to Matthews or the dogs' owner, Jerry Donaldson, a retired Pulaski County K-9 trainer, Minden said.
Pulaski County Animal Control is looking into the matter as well.
Comments on: Dog killed after neighbor said he felt threatened
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TheodoricofPork says... April 12, 2012 at 11:35 a.m.
This just doesn't pass the sniff test. A six-month old puppy is in your yard. You feel threatened, so you go INSIDE, get your gun, call 911, and then go OUTSIDE to shoot the fearsome six month old puppy?
That must have been on REALLY SCARY PUPPY.
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Jjackk says... April 12, 2012 at noon
A neighbor that takes a shotgun to a puppy could make a person feel threatened so it would be alright to go ahead and shoot him next, according to the law.
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Lindarae says... April 12, 2012 at noon
Well, you do know the "size" of the dog (six MONTHS, not six WEEKS) was
probably a factor - plus it was dark at 9:30 @ night. With the threat of
rabies more prevalent, added to the fact that there were TWO dogs, it
was probably a scary event, considering he knew his neighbor was a K-9 trainer.
It is a real shame, though. I'm a dog lover, myself.
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tberry91 says... April 12, 2012 at 12:01 p.m.
I feel threatened that this guy has a gun. What will he be afraid of next and take it upon himself to go shooting?
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Oldearkie says... April 12, 2012 at 12:15 p.m.
Don't wear your Hoodie, I threw mine away.
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soulrecycler says... April 12, 2012 at 12:20 p.m.
an over reaction,why not call animal control or someone to handle it?
This man should NOT be firing a weapon.
This man should NOT have a gun!
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chickenhawk says... April 12, 2012 at 1:04 p.m.
Just keep your dog out of his yard He had every right to shoot the dog
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anonymously says... April 12, 2012 at 1:07 p.m.
Was the dog wearing a hoodie?
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TheMongo says... April 12, 2012 at 1:09 p.m.
YOUR DOG + MY YARD = PROBLEM
YOUR DOG + YOUR YARD = NO PROBLEM
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Jumps says... April 12, 2012 at 1:13 p.m.
What? He could not go in his house, lock the door and call the cops? Oh Please!!!!
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smallbearme says... April 12, 2012 at 1:30 p.m.
I am not understanding why he didn't just stay inside and wait for the police??????
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NONSHEEPLE says... April 12, 2012 at 1:31 p.m.
The animal was on HIS property. Though I feel bad for the dog and its owner he was well within his rights to defend himself. Now for those saying he should have ran back inside and stayed there... If I felt they were a REAL immediate threat I'd have probably done the same thing instead of hiding behind my doors. That also keeps the same "threat" from roaming into another yard of someone less able to protect themselves.. He could have hid behind his door, called animal control-- who we all KNOW will immediatley show right up, and then feel responsible for anyone injured by those animals after they left his property..
As for the Rabies cases PLEASE everyone out there make sure your animals are vaccinated because it's making a HUGE comeback.
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morebeer says... April 12, 2012 at 2:34 p.m.
Sure, he had a right to shoot the dog. Was it the right thing to do? Probably not as it appears avoidable. Was it the smart thing to do? Probably not, he's now at odds with his neighbor, most likely. He also has to live with himself as a hard-ass who punished a 6-month-old dog for its owner's lapse. He gets to explain it to St. Peter, eventually, or maybe St. Francis? Dogs can get out. I adopted one recently and it found six ways from Sunday to get out of my back yard. I plugged all the holes and it's settled down. Nobody in the neighborhood shot it.
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lazybar says... April 12, 2012 at 2:46 p.m.
whine whine whine if you really loved your pets you would not just let them run loose
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morebeer says... April 12, 2012 at 3:32 p.m.
Maybe change your screen name to lazythinker?
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jjordan says... April 12, 2012 at 3:41 p.m.
Just be honest about it.... I don't buy that he felt threatened. More like, he felt like it was a nuisance.
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whatreallymatters2me says... April 12, 2012 at 4:41 p.m.
None of us were there. We don't know all of the circumstances. It breaks my heart that the dog was killed. But I know that 6 month old German Shepherds don't look like puppies and that the breed can be very aggressive. Such a sad thing to happen.
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NoUserName says... April 12, 2012 at 5:26 p.m.
I know what my neighbors' dogs look like. I think I'd call them before shooting their dogs. Especially if I can go inside the house, call 911, have a snack (not really, but added for effect), grab my gun, go BACK outside, and shoot it.
.
If I'm allowed to speculate with basically no facts, then my first thought was also that this was just a good way to get rid of an annoying dog. I hope not, though, because that would speak volumes.
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belle50sg says... April 12, 2012 at 7:55 p.m.
you people are so quick to judge someone.But read up on how many injurieds and deaths a dog has done in arkansas in the last 2yrs. I bet the woman in saline county would do the same thing after that pit bull ran in her house and pulled her outside. Wait what if that was one of you out side with the dog. what, you wouldve tried to talk to the dog and feed it. think before you judge .
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RonalFos says... April 12, 2012 at 10:49 p.m.
A 6 month old German Shepherd can be a large animal and if 2 dogs get aggressive it could lead to real problems not only for this person but for others in the neighborhood. There are children in my neighborhood and loose, really aggressive dogs would be very serious. I would call 911 but if the response was slow and I felt that the dogs were going to be a threat to others in the neighborhood, I wouldn't hesitate to shoot the dogs. I wouldn't want to do it but if the aggression level of the dogs was high enough it would be warranted.
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NoCrossNoCrown says... April 13, 2012 at 1:56 a.m.
so what have we learned here...
If you FEEL threatened.... just shoot first and stick to your fear story
It's open season on hoodies and puppies, grab a gun and go for it...
No licence or common sense needed!!!!
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BillSmith says... April 15, 2012 at 5:16 p.m.
He was just using the GOP/NRA stand your ground law, he had better be glad it was not my dog.
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