Florida Man Shoots Neighbor's Dog Dead In Front Of Owner For Running Onto His Property

A man in Holly Hill, Florida, was arrested Monday (June 8) for killing his neighbor’s pit bull.

On May 29, the canine entered 53-year-old Daniel Robinson’s yard. Robinson immediately yelled at the dog’s owner, Teresa Culver, to get the pit bull or he will shoot it. Culver’s son tried to pull the dog back, however, the canine again escaped and ran loose in Robinson’s yard. Robinson immediately went inside his home and came out with a gun. He fired two shots at the canine in front of Culver and her 14-year-old son.

He was taken into custody on June 8 and charged with animal cruelty, infliction of physical or mental injury to a child, and discharging a firearm in public. He was released from jail after posting $6,500 bail.

Speaking to the Daytona Beach News-Journal after his release from jail, Robinson, a disabled Army veteran, said he was just defending himself from the “vicious” canine.

“As soon as I stepped out of the door, the dog broke away from the kid and he came right at me. He was literally inches from my hand. I shot the gun. I didn’t want to shoot,” he told the newspaper.

The arrest report stated that “Robinson believes he was in his rights to defend himself against his neighbor’s dog even though he could have stayed in the house and called police.”

Culver, however, said Robinson fired as the 2-year-old dog walked back to her. She said she feared that the bullet might have struck her or her son.

“We called her name and she turned around and come back and he came out, pow, pow and shot twice right by myself and my son and the dog,” Culver said, adding that she was “lost” without her dog.

“She helped me with my disabilities and I am lost because he took her life unjustly,” Culver told the newspaper.

The incident comes months after a man in Toledo, Ohio, was arrested for stabbing his neighbor’s dog to death after the canine attacked his pets.