— People are questioning whether police could have found an alternative to killing a man's poodle while he was in jail for breaking the dog out of the pound.

The ruckus started about two weeks ago when 73-year-old Edwin Fry used bolt cutters to free the dog, Buddy Tough, and left on his riding lawn mower with the animal on his lap.

Police arrested Fry at gunpoint a few miles from the city kennel and took the dog, Buddy Tough.

Fry said he couldn't pay the $100 it would take to free his dog legally and didn't want the animal put down.