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WEBVTT E: THE FAMILY IS EAGERLYAWAITING THE OUTCOME OF THEPOLICE INVESTIGATION, BUT DOESNOT EXCITE CHARGES TO BE FILED.>> SLEPT IN OUR ROOM WITH US, HELOVED TO CUDDLE.HE WAS JUST A HUGE PART OF OURFAMILY.JULIE WALLE, HIS OWNERS SAY,: LOVED PEOPLE ALMOST AS MUCH ASHE LOVED HIS GERMAN SHEPARD BESTFRIEND.>> HE WOULD LIGHT UP WHEN HE SAWSOMEONE.HE WAS JUST A VERY HAPPY DOG.>> LIKE A GOLDEN RETRIEVER,ALWAYS SMILING.JULIE AND ALWAYS PLAYING ON: THEIR 9 ACRE WOODED LAKEVILLEPROPERTY.ON SUNDAY EVENING, PAT BATES ANDKRISSY DASHNER SAY WALLE ANDZEKE, BOTH ONE, TOOK ADVANTAGEOF THAT FREEDOM AGAIN.TRAINING WAS A WORK IN PROGRESS.>> I LET THE DOGS OUT AND I WASGOING TO PUT THEM ON THE RUN,BUT BEFORE I COULD PUT THEM ONTHE RUN, THEY BOLTED INTO THEWOODS.JULIE THE COUPLE SEARCHED THE: WOODS FOR NEARLY AN HOUR.>> WE HEARD FIVE GUNSHOTS.JULIE ZEKE RETURNED, WALLE DID: NOT.>> I NEVER THOUGHT SOMEONE WOULDSHOOT MY DOG.EVER.>> I AM TRULY, TRULY SORRY I HADTO SHOOT YOUR DOG BUT I HAD NOCHOICE, I WASN'T GETTING BITTEN -- WASN'T GETTING BITTEN.JULIE MARK, A NEIGHBOR, CLAIMS: THE DOGS HAD GONE AFTER HISCHICKENS AND HAD THEIR SIGHTSSET ON HIM.SOME PEOPLE MIGHT HAVE TROUBLEBELIEVING THAT A FRIENDLY GOLDENRETRIEVER PUPPY LUNGED AT YOU.>> I CAN'T EXPLAIN WHY THE DOGCAME AT ME.>> WE HAD A WHOLE FAMILY AND WEEXPECTED TO RAISE THE DOGS WITHOUR SON, AND NOW WE CAN'T.

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A Massachusetts couple is grieving after their dog was shot and killed by a man who said feared for his life.Krissy Dashner and Pate Bates say they let their dogs outside Sunday night for a run when the dogs took off into the woods of their 9-acre property. After an almost an hour of searching, the Lakeville couple heard five gunshots off in the distance. “When I heard the gunshots, I had a sinking feeling,” Dashner said. The couple’s German shepard, Zeke, returned from the woods, but their golden retriever, Walle, did not. "Never thought someone would shoot my dog," Dashner said. A neighbor admitted to shooting the dog and said the dogs were after his chickens and he felt he and his wife were in danger. “That dog was growling and teeth showing,” the neighbor said. “It would’ve bit me. I’m truly sorry, but there’s nothing I could do about it.”The couple admits Walle should’ve been on his run, but was too fast for them and hoped what occurred could’ve been handled differently. “We’re very approachable people,” Bates said. “We’re new to the neighborhood and I really wish that he had come and talked to us. People have a right to defend their livestock, if that’s what they’re doing.” “I wished he would’ve talked to us,” Dashner said, wondering if the neighbor understands the weight of what has happened. "Do you know that you've changed our lives completely? We had a whole family and expected to raise the dogs with our son...and now we can't," she said.