Police: Men took turns shooting dog

Toledo Blade

TOLEDO

Two Toledo men were arraigned in court Monday on charges that they took turns shooting a German shepherd last week while the dog was caged and screaming in a back yard.

The dog, named Sarge, amazingly survived six .25-caliber bullets to his head and chest and is now recovering at the Lucas County pound.

“He’s alive and he’s up and walking,” Dog Warden Julie Lyle said last night, noting how all six bullets remain lodged inside him. “He’s a tough guy.”

Toledo police on Friday arrested the dog’s owner, Lawrence Mick, 57, and a friend, Adam Collins, 35, of Toledo.

after witnesses described how the two men “took turns shooting the dog while it was in the cage and the dog was screaming,” according to police reports.

Police say the shooting occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Friday in the back yard of the Federal Street address. A neighbor, Melissa Campau, 46, said she called 911 after hearing the dog’s first yelp coming.

When she looked out her window, she saw two men standing over the caged dog outside the Federal Street residence where Mick lived with his girlfriend.

“The younger guy shot the dog three or four more times,” Campau said, a reference to Collins. Both men went inside the house for a few minutes, before “the older guy [Mick] came out and shot the dog a couple more times.”

Friday’s shooting followed a June 23 incident during which a South Toledo man and his girlfriend are accused of kidnapping a neighbor’s dog and shooting it twice with a .45-caliber handgun.

That dog, who is named Tyson, is expected to live but will be blind in one eye. Parts of the incident were caught on video by another neighbor’s surveillance cameras.

Both Mick and Collins were arraigned Monday in Toledo Municipal Court. Mick was held in the Lucas County jail in lieu of a $25,000 bond. He’s charged with cruelty to animals, discharging a firearm, inducing panic, obstructing official business, and having weapons after previously being convicted on drug charges.

He has a July 19 hearing date before Toledo Municipal Court Judge Timothy Kuhlman.

Collins pleaded no contest and was found guilty of cruelty to animals, inducing panic, giving false information to a police officer, and discharging firearms. He was released on his recognizance; a hearing date is set for July 21 in Toledo Municipal Court.

Mick told police that Sarge had bitten him and that Collins shot the animal because Mick “felt the dog was vicious.”

But Collins in an interview denied that he was the one shooting the dog. He said Sarge had bit Mick’s girlfriend before, and that he was visiting Mick Friday to help move and reinforce the dog’s kennel.

Though Sarge was usually calm around Mick, the presence of two people in such close proximity made the dog feel surrounded, said Collins, who owns two dogs himself. The dog started barking and trying to get out of the cage.

“He was busting it open,” Mr. Collins said. ‘Larry said, “We have to do something, it’s going to get out of the cage.’”

The bullet-ridden dog was ‘bleeding profusely’ when officers arrived, police reports said. Officers recovered a .25-caliber automatic pistol.

Police said Collins fled the scene but was arrested shortly afterward. He initially tried to give a false Social Security number, and later admitted to lying because “he knew he had warrants.”

Mick also allegedly threatened a neighbor when he said he was going to call police.

Ms. Lyle said Sarge received emergency veterinary care the night of the shooting. Five bullets entered his head or neck, and a sixth bullet struck his chest. The dog is now on antibiotics and pain medicine and doing quite well for having been shot six time, the warden said.

“He’s not really in need of special care,” she said.

Still, a veterinarian may eventually have to remove one of the bullets that may be irritating an ear. Lyle said Sarge could remain at the pound at least through the court proceedings.

He has yet to display any violent tendencies, and has behaved while going outside for walks.