Lake County Sheriff probes dog shooting

WGN Chicago Breaking News
January 28, 2010 8:28 PM

Employees from Save-a-Pet animal shelter near Grayslake had been trying since dawn to catch the black dog they believe had been dumped in their parking lot overnight by his owner.

They followed the animal, who'd been darting across busy roads, tried to lure him with food and set out a trap provided by Lake County Animal Control.

But when shelter manager Dana Deutsch spotted the terrier mix in a field about a mile from the shelter at about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, she thought this might be her chance.

Instead, she said, she saw a man inside a nearby home raise a gun and point the scope in the direction of the animal. Then she heard a gunshot. After confronting the man - who she said "seemed to have a smile on his face" and denied he was aiming for the dog - Deutsch called police. Then she and a couple of Round Lake public works employees who'd also been trying to catch the dog found him in a pool of blood and took him to an emergency clinic.

The dog, whom the no-kill shelter staff named Justice, was dead from a gunshot wound to the neck.

The Lake County sheriff's office is investigating but had announced no charges as of late Thursday.

"People say, 'It's just a dog.' Well, it could have been your dog," Deutsch said. "It's a living creature, and nothing deserves to die like that."

Shelter development director Marc Portugal said that though this instance had "the most extreme possible outcome," it's sadly not uncommon for people who can no longer care for their pets to simply leave them overnight in the parking lot of the shelter. "A lot of people think they're actually helping by dumping their pets. It's actually the opposite," he said.

Deutsch said Justice had been well-fed, was neutered and had a shiny, healthy coat - not typical for a neglected dog.

--Diana Wallace