After a dog fight between fences, a neighbor shoots and kills another neighbor's dog

Two weeks have passed since an American bully named Benito was shot and killed in his own backyard in a neighborhood north of downtown. HPD tells us the case is still under investigation.

“They were fighting through the fence and I noticed my dog ​​was holding the neighbor's paw,” said Benito's owner Doohan Escalante.

“As I tried to pull my dog ​​away from the neighbor's dog, about 20 to 30 seconds later I heard the neighbor come out. “The neighbor was armed with a gun.”

“She said I was going to shoot,” Doohan said. “I'm still trying to pull him away, she shoots like a warning shot right here next to me, then I'm startled and basically trying to process that I've just been shot.”

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“She fires a second shot, hitting him in the left shoulder without causing an exit wound,” Doohan said. “He immediately started howling, crying and limping. I had to take him to the vet immediately.”

What did the armed neighbor have to say?

“She went in, got her dogs and went in,” said Doohan, who said losing Benito was like losing a best friend.

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Could the neighbor be charged with animal cruelty?

“It could certainly kill a dog if you shot another person’s dog and killed it. That creates the element of animal cruelty,” said Fox26 legal analyst Chris Tritico. “She will undertake the defense in accordance with the Criminal Code on the defense of property. There is a lot to clarify here, and I don’t know if the DA’s office will file charges in this matter.”

We wanted to hear the neighbor's perspective.

No one answered and I left my card.

Doohan moved his family away,

“We just can’t stay here. It’s not safe,” he said. “I just want justice for Benito. No dog should go through what he did.”