Dog shot, killed in owner’s backyard

Author: Christina Lusby
Published: Updated:

FORT MYERS, Fla.- A man is horrified after finding his dog shot and killed in his own backyard.

Kenneth Harrison stood by the side of his 2-year-old German Shepherd Hank as he passed away.

Harrison says he doesn’t know why anybody would shoot his dog. The dog was entrusted to him after his brother’s death. Now all that’s left, is Hank’s collar.

“When he looked at me and I’m looking back at him like ‘I cant do anything,'” said Harrison, “so he slowly drifted on and off.”

Helpless, Harrison could only stand by and comfort Hank as he died Sunday.

Police reports show someone came up behind the house fence and shot the dog three times.

“I was asleep…” said neighbor Walter Massey, “and I heard about three or four shots.”

Shot in the legs and stomach, somehow the German Shepherd made his way to the side of the house.

“Dog wasn’t barking, he made a noise after he was hit,” said Massey, “and then went and lay down over there.”

Hank died laying next to his owner.

“It’s still hurtful. It’s like any other pet owner, once you attached to it, it’s like losing a family member,” Harrison. “After my brother died two months after me being here, I had responsibility of taking over and raising him.”

Cancer took Harrison’s brother at 54 years old in 2013. Now a stranger with a gun, has taken Hank.

“I don’t know what reason they had for doing it. I just wish he didn’t have to suffer the way he did,” said Harrison.

Hank’s owner says he was a guard dog, he barked when people neared the home but never bothered anyone.

If you have any information, please call Lee County Domestic Animal Services at 239-432-2083.

Copyright ©2024 Fort Myers Broadcasting. All rights reserved.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed without prior written consent.