Woman says ex-husband killed her dog for spite

By Ed Runyan

runyan@vindy.com

WARREN

Prosecutors said they are waiting to view surveillance footage before determining whether a Warren man killed his ex-wife’s dog out of spite.

If so, Verl Fuller Sr. could face animal-cruelty charges. However, he maintained he was protecting himself from Dianne Lukasik’s 4-year-old, 40-pound Shar-Pei.

Lukasik’s dog, Chong, got loose from his chain Friday morning on Belvedere Avenue Southwest.

The dog bothered a neighbor’s 4-year-old daughter, then wandered onto Lukasik’s ex-husband Fuller’s property, where he killed it with a shotgun blast.

Lukasik and her ex-husband live next door to each other.

Lukasik visited the Warren prosecutor’s office Monday in an attempt to have charges brought against her ex-husband, but so far, prosecutors won’t act.

Though Lukasik admits it’s her fault the dog got loose because she failed to replace a frayed cord, she feels that Fuller killed the dog out of spite.

She has video-surveillance cameras mounted on the outside of her house, and she has footage of the moments leading up to the dog’s death.

“The dog was my lifeline. He gave me a reason to get up in the morning,” Lukasik said of the dog. Lukasik said she has lung cancer and no insurance coverage.

“I’m terminal. I just don’t know when,” Lukasik said of her disease.

“My dog was not a vicious dog — no ifs, ands or buts. He wasn’t hurting nobody,” she said.

Traci Timko, a Warren prosecutor, said she is waiting to see the video, but she’s also waiting for statements from the neighbors to learn more about the dog’s behavior before she decides whether Fuller deserves to be charged with cruelty to animals.

Timko and Lukasik say the video may not be conclusive evidence of a crime because Fuller shot the dog behind a garage in his back yard.

The shooting itself is not on tape.

In the police report, Fuller said he shot the dog because it was being vicious and attacking him.

Timko said if that is the case, Fuller had the right to protect himself, even though it is illegal to fire a gun in the city limits.