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September 20, 2006

S. Kingstown man charged with shooting his dog

SOUTH KINGSTOWN -- A local man was arrested today after police found his 9-year-old Rottweiler in a 4-foot-deep hole with a gunshot wound to the back of its head and the owner ready to cover the dog with dirt, police said.

A Verizon worker reported to police around noon that he heard a gunshot and saw a Rottweiler walk out of the woods and toward the house at 590 Rose Hill Rd., said Capt. Jeffrey Allen. The dog was pursued by a man, who grabbed it by the neck and took it back to the woods.

Responding officers found blood on the sidewalk and a trail of blood leading to the hole. The wounded dog, a female named Blaze Jules Thomas Ferguson, was sitting inside with a gunshot to the back of the head and blood coming from the mouth, Allen said. A man, identified as Donald E. Ferguson, was crouched at the edge of hole, with a shovel and 9mm Ruger handgun nearby.

Ferguson, 42, of 590 Rose Hill Rd., explained that he was trying to put his dog down because it had bad hips and kidney and bladder problems, Allen said.

The dog was taken to Washington County Veterinary Hospital, where blood tests determined that dog had Lyme disease but was otherwise healthy, Allen said. It appeared that the bullet had exited the body, Allen said.

Police charged Ferguson with malicious injury to animals, a felony, Allen said. He was expected to be arraigned before a bail commissioner. Under state law, he faces up to two years in prison and $1,000 in fines.

-- Journal staff writer Katie Mulvaney

Posted by Steve Peoples  at 5:42 PM | Permalink

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