Newport police investigating animal cruelty case after dog shot in leg

Newport police investigating animal cruelty case after dog shot in leg

NEWPORT (WATE) - A 9-month-old black lab is recovering after it was shot in the leg in Newport. Police say the incident happened Wednesday morning along Apache Drive. It's being investigated as an animal cruelty case.

Cookie Carder was having her morning coffee Wednesday when she heard a knock at her door it was her neighbor with bad news, "My neighbor says, I think someone just shot your dog!"

Outside the home Max, a 63 pound black lab, lay listless a bullet hole through his leg. He was in shock and suffering from a split in a blood vessel. Carder and her husband rushed the dog to the vet where he spent the night. He returned home with stitches in his leg and Elizabethan collar around his neck.

Carder still wants to know, "Why would someone shoot my dog. Max is a nine-month-old neighborhood dog. Why? Why and who? What did he do to anybody?"

Carder says Max is well-known in the neighborhood. She admits she lets Max roam freely and until Wednesday it had never been a problem. "I did violate the leash law, I will admit to what I did, but that's still no reason to shoot him."

Neighbor James Rathbone said, "I heard the shots that morning but I thought it was something else. I had no idea someone would shoot a dog."

Rathbone says he encounters Max often when he walks his dogs. Max he says is friendly always looking for attention or food and he can't imagine anyone in the neighborhood shooting him. Rathbone said, "It's totally out of character for anybody living in this neighborhood. There's really no trouble at all most people here are retired. Its real quiet."

Police are actively investigating this case. They're not happy about the dog shooting or the fact that someone discharged a weapon inside the city limits.

If you have any information , call the Newport Police Department at (423) 623-8777.