The husband of a former Fort Worth school board candidate will be in court next month after shooting a dog while canvassing a neighborhood with his wife and daughters.

Pedro Juarez Jr.'s wife, Pilar Candia, was running against incumbent Ashley Paz for the District 9 seat this spring, and on April 30 the family was campaigning in the 2900 block of Meadowbrook Drive.

According to police, an unleashed dog "came running down the driveway" toward Juarez, 35, who feared that it was an "aggressive" animal, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Juarez pulled out a 9 mm handgun and fired one shot, hitting the dog "near his head," according to his arrest-warrant affidavit.

Alan Smith, the dog's owner, was in a neighbor's backyard when he heard the gunshot. Then Duncan — a 10-year-old border collie and golden retriever mix — ran into the yard and a neighbor's son said he'd been shot.

Smith said Duncan was "bleeding profusely." It was after leading Duncan to the car to be rushed to a veterinarian that Smith saw Juarez waiting outside an SUV in front of the house, Fort Worth Weekly reported.

"I went out and confronted the man and I said a few ugly things to him," Smith told the Star-Telegram. "Unbeknownst to me, it was in front of his children who were sitting in the back seat of the car, which I regret."

Following a trip to the vet and a $2,500 vet bill, Duncan lost multiple teeth, had his head shaved, received more than a dozen stitches in his face, and had several bullet fragments removed from his sinus cavity. But the 70-pound dog has since made a full recovery, Smith said.

"Why did you shoot my dog?" After more than a month, and a vet bill of nearly $2,500, Duncan is "OK, hasn’t slowed down a bit.” Posted by Fort Worth Star-Telegram on Wednesday, June 21, 2017

After news of the shooting broke, Facebook posts saying things like "Vote for Ashley Paz. She promises not to shoot your dog," began gaining traction. Paz received 58 percent of the votes in the May 6 election and retained her seat on the board.

Juarez faces a charge of unlawfully carrying a weapon, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine. He is scheduled to appear in court July 6.

Juarez did not have a license to carry a gun, and he "believed that since the law for open carry passed, he was no longer required to have a license to carry," the affidavit says.

While Smith said it was “absolutely unnecessary” for Duncan to have been shot, he said he didn't know it was a violation of city code to let his dog outside without a leash or fence. He was cited for having unrestrained animals.

"I'm at fault also," he told the Star-Telegram. "It's aggravating, but I have to share responsibility."