Judge orders pastor to pay $800 in dog killing

GIRARD — Judge Jeffrey Adler of Girard Municipal Court has ordered Pastor David W. Murphy of Vienna pay his neighbor, the owner of a black Labrador retriever named Tucker, $800 in “damages” for killing the dog.

But in his judgment entry, the judge again mentioned his dissatisfaction with the law governing the killing of such animals, saying his “hands are tied” by it.

“The killing of poor Tucker seems like such a senseless act,” the judgment entry says. “It is hard for one to fathom that in an attempt to simply scare the young pup, the defendant accurately hit him with three out of four shots.