MEMPHIS, Tenn. – A man has been charged with aggravated animal cruelty after police say he shot and killed the family dog because it bit his daughter.
According to court records, a resident at the Edgewater Apartments in Northeast Memphis called police last month after she saw a neighbor kill the dog.
The woman said she saw John Coleman drag the dog down the stairs of a second-floor apartment and take the animal into a wooded area. The witness said she heard three to four gunshots and watched the bleeding dog run back up the stairs with Coleman chasing it.
The witness said Coleman dragged the dog back down the stairs and behind a dumpster. Then, she heard two shots and saw Coleman leave in his car.
Coleman told investigators that the dog bit his daughter and then ran to its kennel. They said he admitted using a 9mm handgun to kill the dog.
Police said Coleman told them he shot the dog in the neck, but it didn’t die, and then he shot the dog in the head and left it behind the dumpster.
Officers seized the weapon on the day of the shooting.
Coleman, 29, was booked in the Shelby County Jail on Friday and is scheduled to be arraigned on Tuesday.
