Dog Owner Fatally Shoots 'Friendly' Pet In Front Of 3-Year-Old Child

An arrest warrant was issued against an Indiana man for fatally shooting his pet dog in front of several people including a three-year-old child.

Officials with the Lake County Sheriff's Office arrived at the scene in Calumet Township on May 25 following reports of shots fired. Upon arrival, some people informed the officials that a man, identified as 43-year-old Kenneth C. Jennings, had shot his dog, a German shepherd mix puppy, in the head.

The residents of the area said the man, who was furious after the canine tried to go near people standing in the area, grabbed it by the scruff of the neck before taking it to his yard and shooting it. They said witnesses to the incident also included a three-year-old child who was playing in the area.

According to the probable cause affidavit, during interrogation, Jennings told the officials that he killed his pet because he was “tired of the dog being aggressive and biting people.” He added that he shot the dog as he was worried it would attack the child playing on the other side of the road after it ran up to the fence. Though the man admitted he "put my dog down. Yes, I did,” he declined to make further statements and also refused to surrender the gun to the officials.

Residents of the area, however, refuted the claims of the dog being aggressive and said it was “incredibly friendly” and interacted well with everyone. Describing the accused as “very, very scary,” the witnesses said Jennings shot firearms in his yard “all the time” and that the German shepherd was the fourth dog he had fatally shot in “an undetermined period of time." He previously killed his dog as it “barked too much.” The accused had told his neighbors he wasn’t worried about getting into trouble as “he builds (automatic rifles) for Lake County officers.”

Meanwhile, the accused was charged with level 6 felonies including “torturing or mutilating a vertebrate animal and criminal recklessness committed with a deadly weapon."