Sheriff’s office will not refer charges after neighbor shoots, kills dogs that attacked goats

Amanda Quintana by Amanda Quintana

8-month old Shar Peis Stella and Gizmo

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said it does not plan to refer charges after investigating why a man shot his neighbors’ 8-month old dogs.

Todd and Justin Schlender said their two Shar Peis dug under the fence and got into the neighbor’s yard on Thursday.

When they went to look for them, the neighbor said they’d been killed.

“The son opened up the door and said, ‘Yea, we’ve seen ’em, we shot ’em. They’re dead right there,’ said Todd Schlender. “All he did was put them in their burn pile, you know, moved them down to the burn pile. And then yea, we were just both astonished, and so we brought the puppies home and buried them.”

Jefferson County Chief Deputy Jeffrey Parker said the dogs attacked and injured the neighbor’s goats, and under Wisconsin state statute a property owner is allowed to kill an animal in order to protect livestock.

Parker said the neighbor tried to give the dogs commands to leave before he felt the only way to protect his goats was to shoot the dogs.

The Schlenders said there were so many other ways their neighbor could’ve handled this.

“It amazes me that people have the heart to shoot a dog, a family pet. They’re clean, they’re well-fed, they weren’t strays. And then to put them next to a burn pile and not even attempt to find the people they belong to. Somebody hits a dog with their car on the road, and they’ll stop and check the houses, you know, and that’s an accident. This wasn’t an accident,” said Justin Schlender.

This is Stella & Gizmo. The 8-month-old puppies were shot and killed by their neighbor last night. �

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the neighbor had the right to because the puppies were on his property and attacking his goats. #news3now pic.twitter.com/6k9SEfplL6

— Amanda Quintana (@AmandaQTV) August 9, 2019

They believe their neighbor wanted to do harm to an animal and shot the dogs multiple times.

“No apology, nothing, even from the kid. No regret, no remorse. No nothing,” said Todd Schlender.

Animal Control is still investigating. Parker said it is unclear at this point if the dog owners will face charges.

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