Dog Shot & Killed in Morgan County

The Morgan County Sheriff’s Office is investigating an incident where a dog was shot and killed Wednesday.

It happened around 10:30 a.m. Morgan Meadows Trailer Court off State Route 669 just outside of Malta.

27-year-old Emmalee Stanley says she was letting her two small dogs outside, while watching them from her steps, when they took off after something. She says she went inside to put shoes on to go after them. One of the dogs did return and she says she was crossing the grass to get the other-in a neighbor’s yard. Stanely says that’s when her neighbor came outside with a gun.

"I begged for him not to shoot. I screamed, ‘No, no no!’ He shot, and I was kind of hoping it was a warning shot. When I started running, he closed the door and went back inside. I ran up there, and I saw my dog lying there, " says Stanley.

The dog sustained one gunshot wound in the rear that killed him.

Stanley says she doesn’t understand why her neighbor would shoot her dog.

"They’ve never bitten anybody or hurt anybody. The dog catcher has been called about them running loose, but they never hurt anybody or tore up anything, " says Stanely.

While she is grieving over the loss of a dog she considered part of her family, Stanley says what her neighbor did was dangerous and he needs to pay the price for his actions.

"He could have shot a kid instead of shooting my dog. He could have shot me. There’s so many possibilities. He could have even hit a house, " says Stanley.

Deputy James Fisher says he did take 20-year-old Tyler Taylor’s gun into custody and cited Taylor with cruelty to animals.

He says Taylor admitted that he shot the dog because because it was trying to breed with his dog that was in heat. Fisher says Taylor claims to have repeatedly spoken with the dog warden and Stanley about these two dogs being a nuisance in the neighborhood.

Taylor is set to appear in court Monday.