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Family Looks For Answers After Dog Shot And Killed
October 2, 2013
A Cantonment family has spent over a month looking for answers as to why someone would shoot and kill their dog in their neighborhood.
“On the morning of August 22, my wife and I were notified by Escambia County Animal Control of a horrendous and cruel crime that had been committed against our beloved dog, Maxx,” Ken Williams of the 1500 block of Muscogee Road said. “Maxx was shot five times in his back. He did not die instantly. He suffered as he bled to death.”
According to an Escambia County Animal Control report, it appeared that Maxx had been shot and killed on a porch belonging to Williams’ neighbor. Photos show the dog dead on the porch in pool of blood, but the photos are too graphic for this story.
The wife of the person that reported the dead dog to Animal Control told officers that she did not know anything about the shooting, and officers were unable to locate any witnesses to the shooting.
Maxx, an American bulldog/lab mix, was shot five times in the back, according to the Animal Control report. He had been contained in the Williams’ yard, but had apparently escaped during the night.
Anyone with information on the dog’s shooting death is asked to call Escambia County Animal Control Officer Nowlin at (850) 554-0964 or the Escambia County Animal Control office at (850) 595-0097.
” Maxx was a sweet, gentle dog that wouldn’t hurt a fly. Please help us bring justice for Maxx,” Williams said.
Submitted photo for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.
Comments
39 Responses to “Family Looks For Answers After Dog Shot And Killed”
I was the owner of maxx and I promise you all that , “I will not rest or quit pushing untill I find out who killed my Maxx” it is a personal assault on me and my wife and will not be over untill the killer is brought to justice!! No matter how long it takes. We have done nothing to these people nor will I be done wronged like this!
I am so sorry for Max loss. He looks like a beautiful dog, and I can not imagine how angry I would be if someone did something like this to my dog.
Shooting this animal was a crime. I hope the ECSO gets to the bottom of who pulled the trigger and that those people are punished to the fullest extent of the law. What next? Will they start shooting neighborhood children because they “trespass” in their yard? I suppose the children should be kept behind a secure fence too, or some here would reason they should be subject to the same fate?
Very very sad.
Janet,
They mean a real fence, one which actually works to keep dogs inside, without holes under it or through it or low enough to be jumped over. (If there ARE such fences)
David for effective fences
To Janet,
If YOU read the original article yesterday before the Williams Family posted, you would not have posted what you did.
Good Grief.
All the people saying Maxx should have been fenced….Did you bother to read the article?
“He had been contained in the Williams’ yard, but had apparently escaped during the night.”
What part of “contained” and “escaped during the night” do you not understand?
Good grief!! READ!!!
@donnie your neighbor is one weird cat. He hid the body I wish I had words to describe how weird that is. But you know they say animals are a good judge of people guess he was trying to tell your neighbor something…
This is so sad! I dare someone to kill my kid -dog- for no reason. If its attacking thats one thing but for no reason thats horriblee! !
So sad, my next door neighbor shoot and killed my boxer a few months ago while I was at work for pooping on his porch. We kept him inside when e’er were home and in a pen when we wasn’t but he got loose and died because of it. I was out of town working but he told my girlfriend he did it, then had her clean it up and he took the dog and dumped the body in the river before I could get home. My girlfriend was afraid to call the police because we live next door to them. I’m still upset about it, he was a great dog
Maxx was like my dog.. He was part of the family.. Many dogs escape (mine has too), but you do not shoot a dog five times, especially one that is collared and tagged (bet he had a chip too).. My heart goes out to his family..
@ dog lover ,,,i know that of course .. i have an 19 year old daughter im just trying to let them know,,,its horrible ,, good grief cant make a statement with out being question ,,,but i have 3 fur babies and they are like my children …and its horrible for these people and also i understand what people are saying bout it was in another yard ,,but at the same time 1st nobody didnt haft to shoot and kill it and also if its in your yard talk the owner and if it doesnt work ..call animal shelter but killing it ….give me a break
Ever notice how PERFECT people would handle a situation when it’s not happening to them? Animals get out of fences. Happens EVERY day and has been happening since man started fencing animals. Most responsible pet owners dont allow it to happen, it accidentally does.
I am so tired of the attitudes of people these days. These people lost their pet. They lost their pet because of malicious actions of another not because of what they did or didnt do. Good grief, leave them alone.
To the Williams Family, I am sorry about your puppy. To lose one is hard but to lose one in such a way can be devastating.
You cannot shoot 5 times and not get somebody’s attention in a neighborhood. Nobody will speak up because they do not want to get involved and they do not care. Maybe the dog was a nuisance, but what about the case of the innocent pregnant cow that was dragged to death in its own pasture? With a $5,000 reward offered it is still unsolved.
This is awful!!! This person needs to go to jail. How can someone be so cruel??? I know if someone hurt my dog I would make sure they had to suffer for it. My prayers go to the family of this dog.
My heart goes out to the family for your loss…and for those that say it is not like losing a child….it is to some …so think before you make your comments…and it is so sad that humans, who are to be the most humane beings on this planet, are the least….RIP sweet Maxx I hope they find who did this to you and they receive the appropriate punishment…
As the owner has commented the dog was in the yard and had from what they can only guess got over the fence and dogs do that … mine has gotten UNDER the privacy fence by digging and I have caught her multiple times. It takes time to train an animal as it does to train a child … on that note… what was the reasoning for shooting this animal?? 5 times at that? In a neighborhood at that? Too many animals being shot at for no reasoning, people are not being held responsible for cruelty to animals around here so even more people are just killing animals because others are getting away with it. You have a phone if there is an animal on your property that doesnt belong there CALL ANIMAL CONTROL, its not that difficult people… no instead they pick up a gun they shoot someones pet , would you do that to a child that was on your property that was lost? Think about that next time you choose to shoot at an animal sometimes thats all some people have is their animal it is the closest thing they have to a child… so sick of this
This is happening more and more. I wish people would stay with there dogs when there outside. I have never left my dogs unattended and alone for this kind of reason or people steal dogs all the time for dog fighting and many other reasons…even small dogs.
My heart goes out to all these dogs that have come to the end in such a evil way and to there families.
The people that are killing family dogs or any dog for that matter…I hope comes to a cruel end themselves whether it be prison or some other form of punishment.
Ms.Nowling – I love my dogs with all my heart but losing a pet could never compare to losing a child.
MAXX was shot IN THE BACK 5 TIMES, That tells me he was not causing any harm even if he wasn’t in his yard. We have sick evil cowards in this world. This is happening too often in our area. If you love your pets DO NOT let them out of your sight!
Thank you all for your concern over our loss of our sweet baby Maxx. Thank you especially to NorthEscambia.com for alerting the public and helping to warn our neighbors of potential danger to their pets as well. We would hate for anyone else to have to go through anything of this nature.
To answer some of your questions that have been posed here…
We do have a fenced yard, and Maxx apparently either went over the fence during the night or someone let him out. Since we do have another dog (they had been playmates since 6 weeks old) and he was not out of the fence, it leads us to believe that Maxx climbed over the fence.
Thank you again so much for all your thoughts and prayers. If you do have any information, please come forward…we desperately need closure. God Bless.
I am sorry about.publish this is absolutely horrible…I absolutely can not stand when someone hurts another animal for no reason!!! I hope y’all get justified maxx!!!! Rest in piece sweet baby!!!!
Mr. Williams & family, I am so sorry for your family’s loss. My heart breaks for you and your furbaby.
@ME – call animal control! Sometimes dogs get out and sometimes the owners aren’t diligent in keeping their dogs in the yard! You giving “consequences to the dog” is ILLEGAL! YES a dog nuisance is annoying! I have one in my neighborhood. Based on my observations… I BLAME HER OWNERS!!!!
If Maxx was a threat to the shooter then certainly I would believe their shooting was justified, but the shooter should at least tell their side of the story and give this family some closure.
No matter how the shooter felt about the dog the owners are heartbroken that a member of their family is gone!
I’m sorry for your loss. Just a couple weeks ago someone came into MY yard and shot and killed two of my kittens. Because this happen somewhere between 11:00pm and 6:00am and no witness there was nothing anybody could do about it. So just please let me catch someone else in my yard and it’s not gonna be pretty. This kind of violence really needs to stop.
RIP Max. I won’t hammer on the virtues of keeping pets in fenced yards. I’m sure Max’s family is heartbroken and this has proven a harsh lesson. Country living often encourages different attitudes. But, five shots in the back to me says two things: Max must have been departing the area of the shooter and, just as in crimes of passion, five shots is excessive enough to be considered overt and deliberate cruelty/torture. Muscogee is a busy road and some opportunistic passerby could have done this if the neighbors are on good terms with one another. Please, everyone, keep your beloved pets at home. Things happen, they can get loose, but we have to be ever vigilant. If anyone has followed the story about Diesel, the blue Pensacola pitbull who escaped (and is yet to be found) after his home’s fenced yard was breeched, you know evil will find a way. We just need to make it harder for it to be successful. Then punish to the fullest when caught.
This report does NOT mention that the dog was loose/roaming and became aggressive or whether the dog had been stolen out of the yard. We don’t know the facts yet. More and more dogs are being stolen from yards and brutally murdered. Even if the dog had escaped the yard (this can happen to ANY pet owner, regardless of how vigilant you are), we don’t know the circumstances that led to his death. He could have been abducted on the street, shot, then tossed away. We don’t know if he became aggressive towards someone or someone’s pets/livestock. The article says he was shot and killed on the neighbor’s porch. He could have been shot elsewhere and dumped on the porch. Does the person who reported the death know anything?; just says that the wife of the person who reported it doesn’t know anything. Any surveillance cameras in the area? Why was he shot five times? There are evil people in the community who do great harm to animals.
Is Escambia Co. Sheriff’s Office investigating this, in addition to Animal Control? This crime is a potential FELONY in the state of FL.
Iam sorry for your loss. That’s why as a pet owner you must be responsible. This may be a sweet looking dog and never hurt anyone but if the person who shot the dog was in fear things happen. I had a bull dog run after me while walking one day and if the home owner hadn’t been there to call him back he would have been shot. All he wanted to do was play and I didn’t know this but the home owner did.
I don’t know what happened in this case, but…
I’ve had a neighbor’s dogs come on to my property and attack my pets. He said the same thing about them being so sweet, and they wouldn’t hurt a fly. And yet, there they were, a quarter mile from their home, going after my pets.
Why is the dog not in its yard?
My neighbor’s dog roams our neighborhood also. It’s turns over our trash cans and barks at my kids who, by the way, ARE in their own yard. I’ve been very tempted to … give consequences to the dog.
It is sad, but if you love your dogs don’t let them run the neighborhood- put up a fence or walk them on a leash. When I take my children to walk, run or bike in my neighborhood there are certain homes that let their dogs out in their yard with no fencing (invisible or otherwise) and those dogs will bark and run at us. I love animals as much as the next person, but a free roaming dog is a potential menace. Keep your dogs under your command and supervision and this can’t happen. Pretty simply solution.
“Well” (quote)
“But it sounds like Maxx was not at home when this happened either.”
Not justifying what happened, but I think all need to respect their neighbors property by keeping your pets on your own property. If I wanted dogs, I would have my own, I don’t want yours! This means I don’t want them on my porches, digging in my flowers, jumping up on my vehicles, or threatening my family.
This is so sad and my heart goes out to this family. These days many acts of ugliness are committed without a reason. I see stories around the country of people, usually teens, shooting farm animals, pets, and even people because (1.) they’re bored and (2.) they have a gun and just want to shoot something. Speaks volumes about (some of) the youth of today and how they were raised. We need an awful lot of prayer for them all.
A few years ago we called our dogs in for the night one didn’t want to come in. She died of poisoning the next day. We never found out how she was poisoned. Now, even though we live on 5 acres, that our precious dog knows the boundaries and knows to not cross those boundaries. We NEVER let her out unattended. I live very close. I only wish I had known about this sooner. What if I had let her out of my site for one second?
This is horrible! I am so sorry for your loss. That is the sweetest face, just breaks my heart! I hope someone out there will do the right thing, but in this day and age I wouldn’t count on it.
Again, so sorry for your loss and I will pray justice is done to the monster/monsters who took your baby from you!
I live near here and if this had happened to my dog and I knew who it was I would want them to be punished if not by law but in the same way.My dogs are like family to me and just like a person should NEVER be shot.
I am so sorry for their loss and for the cruelty to this animal. But I want to warn people that letting your dog run loose can be a hazard to other people. The person who feels threatened will protect themselves somehow. I hope they find out what happened.
Sad
But it sounds like Maxx was not at home when this happened either.
So sorry to hear this. I hope they find the ignorant heartless person that did this and throw the book at them.
I am sorry about your pet. I am a strong believer of fences. Not trying to put any blame on anyone, but my pet have a fence to stop them from leaving my yard. Everyday, when I drive in it seems that I see someone’s pet dead on the side of the road, because someone couldn’t take the time to put a leash on their “pet”. I am not blaming any one person. but when you have an animal it is up to you to care for it.
Me, just venting!!!
Sad story. Looks like a friendly loving dog. Put up a monetary reward. Someone will talk then.
This is horrible …this will be 3 rd case of evil against a poor baby …I don’t understand how people can be sooo evil ..something gotta give and stop all this…I’m sorry for the family’s loss its like loosing a child..I can’t imagine