Man Found Guilty After Shooting Dog In Lakeville
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY — A jury has returned three guilty verdicts in the Lakeville dog shooting trial.
Last December, a loose pooch was shot and seriously wounded in the parking lot of the Working Person’s Store.
The shooter—Jon Hanley of New Carlisle—could now face up to five years behind bars.
The verdict came a mere hour after the jury left the courtroom.
The defense had argued that Jon Hanley had seen a dog attack before and would “never forget it.”
Jurors heard that Hanley didn’t know or provoke the 70-pound German shepherd named Major who allegedly bit Hanley on the arm on the December day in question.
The defense said Hanley genuinely believed that people were in danger before he shot the dog—even if, in retrospect, he “might be mistaken.”
“I know my dog, I was there. There’s only two eyewitnesses, well, three if you count Major, there’s three eyewitnesses. Major, Hanley, and myself. Of course I knew it was not justified,” said the dog’s owner, Viola Woods.
The prosecution pointed to a picture of alleged dog bite damage done to Hanley’s forearm and compared it to a scratch or a rug burn.
The prosecution then pointed to the bullet wound, right between the dog’s eyes, saying if the dog were shot while attacking, Hanley would have to be an Olympic-level marksman.
“Because my dog was on his haunches looking up, curiosity on his face,” said Viola Woods. “He’d never seen a gun before. He was on the ground on his haunches looking up. That’s why the bullet went between his eyes.”
St. Joseph County Prosecutor Ken Cotter said his office takes it seriously whenever someone discharges a firearm. “That’s serious. And that’s what we’ve done, you know. He shot the dog right near the owner of the dog. And so he was convicted both of the attempted killing of the domesticated animal as well as criminal recklessness for her.”
The prosecution had argued that Hanley could have simply got in his pickup truck, shut the door and called police, and that the shooting was really driven by anger, not a concern for safety.
Sentencing is set for September 21. Hanley will be punished for felony counts of criminal recklessness, and attempting to kill a domestic animal, along with a misdemeanor count of criminal mischief.
The minimum sentence would likely be six months, and the maximum five years.
Source: WNDU