Man Kills Blind Dog By Shooting It 5 Times Inside Arkansas Home, Charged

In a case of animal cruelty in Texarkana, Arkansas, a man killed a dog by shooting it five times.

According to a probable cause affidavit released Saturday (June 20), deputies arrived at a home after receiving a report that a dog was shot. A female resident told the responding officers that she was sleeping on the living room sofa when she heard a loud noise. She woke up and rushed to the kitchen to find her 15-year-old dog lying in a pool of blood on the floor.

She told the officers that 35-year-old Charles Shuttleworth had shot her dog and he was “very intoxicated” at the time. The deputies found five spent shell casings in the kitchen and also recovered a handgun from the home.

Shuttleworth was taken into custody and charged with aggravated animal cruelty. He was released from jail after he posted a $25,000 bond. He was set to appear in court in July. The accused could face up to six years in prison if found guilty of the crime.

Meanwhile, speaking about the dog, the unidentified owner said the canine had gone blind a few years back. However, it was otherwise healthy and "full of life." The relationship between the accused and the dog’s owner was not known.

The incident comes a month after a man in New Bern, North Carolina, fatally shot his relative’s pet dogs. Carnell Pearson Jr. killed two pit bulls, then called 911 and told the operator that he had fatally shot the canines. He was arrested and charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty.

In another incident of animal cruelty last month, a South Carolina man fatally shot his fiancée’s pet dog for growling at him. The accused, identified as Randy White, was drunk and the canine growled at him when he was searching for the TV’s remote control under the bed. The accused then took out a gun and opened fire at the canine, killing it on the spot.