Cruelty charge for WA man accused of shooting dog

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — A Snohomish man accused of fatally shooting a neighbor’s dog has been charged with first-degree animal cruelty.

In court documents, Snohomish County prosecutors say 56-year-old Michael Capretta had several conflicts with his neighbors involving their dogs before the encounter last November that killed a Labrador named Molly.

Police wrote that the neighbors tried to keep their dogs from wandering off, but occasionally the dogs would get out and run onto Capretta’s property.

Last November, Molly and another dog owned by her family got loose. The owners told police they heard gunshots seconds later. One dog ran home.

Molly’s owner saw her dog on the ground with a gunshot wound to the chest. According to court papers, the woman pleaded with Capretta to let her take the dog, but Capretta hit the woman in the head, put a cable around the dog’s neck and dragged the dead animal away.

KOMO-TV says officers later found the dog’s collar in Capretta’s pocket and found the dog’s body a quarter-mile away. His arraignment is set for Feb. 19.

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Information from: KOMO-TV, http://www.komotv.com/