Eureka man accused of shooting neighbor’s dog

A Eureka man is facing charges he shot and killed a neighbor’s dog during an incident earlier this year.

Roger Allen Day, 71, pleaded not guilty to one felony count of aggravated animal cruelty July 15 in Lincoln County District Court. His next hearing is scheduled for Aug. 19. 

According to the affidavit of probable cause, county deputy Bo Pitman got a call from dispatch on the morning of May 16. The woman said her neighbor had shot her dog. When Pitman spoke to the woman, she said her dog died at the Whitefish Animal Hospital and they had spent $2,000 on exploratory surgery. The dog was shot above the groin and suffered intestinal damage.

According to the woman, the veterinarian said he could save the dog, but it would cost another $4,000 and the dog wouldn’t have a good quality of life.

The couple decided to have the dog euthanized. She described the dog as a German Shepherd-Husky mix. She said the dog would occasionally get off their property and run around the area on private land and U.S. Forest Service land.

The woman’s husband saw Day on the afternoon of May 10 and asked him if he shot their dog. Day allegedly told the man he shot a dog this morning because he had seen a Facebook post about a German Shepherd “looking” dog killing chickens in the area.

Pitman spoke with Day on the phone and the man agreed to stop at the station. He said he lives part-time with a woman on Fort Steel Trail and does odds and ends for a local family. The accused said he was speaking to members of the family and they’d mentioned another neighbor losing a bunch of chickens to a German Shepherd type dog running loose.

Day said he’d keep an eye out for the dog. On the morning of the shooting, Day said he was on the neighbor’s property waiting for a gopher to pop out of a hole in his lawn.

When he left the property, he saw a German Shepherd type dog run across Fort Steel Trail and into the woods. He drove up the road to look for the dog. A few hundred yards up the road, near the border of federal land and land that he was taking care of, he saw the dog. He grabbed his .22 magnum rifle and tried to call the dog in. When it began to run, he fired a shot at the animal.

According to Pitman, Day said he aimed about a foot in front of the dog with the intent to shoot the animal in the head. The dog continued to run, so Day assumed he’d missed.

Several hours later, Day saw the man. He asked the defendant if he’d shot his wife’s dog. Day said he thought he’d missed, but he also thought he didn’t do anything wrong. Day allegedly said if his own dog was killing livestock, he’d shoot it, too.

A conviction for aggravated animal cruelty may result in a 2-year prison term.