Ray and Elizabeth Taylor wanted to bury their German shepherd, Baron, but a final farewell must wait.
"They (sheriff's deputies) told me that I couldn't bury him. So they could pick him up and examine what kind of bullet killed him," Ray said.
Ray said a neighbor, who lives across Marshfield Drive, shot and killed Baron and was aiming at their second dog, a Rottweiler.
The Taylors said they normally keep their dogs fenced in the back yard, but for some reason, they got loose. Elizabeth said she was out looking for the dogs after 6 p.m. Wednesday night.
"When I heard that gun shot, he could have hit me, not the dog. He was shooting at her, which I was right in front of her," she said. "I saw this guy standing there holding a rifle."
No one has been charged in the incident. No one was at the neighbor's home to answer questions. Ray Taylor said his dogs, especially Baron, would not have hurt anyone.
"The dog was not biting anyone and did not threaten one child," he said. "The police interviewed all the neighbors. There were people playing ball up here, and they were petting the German shepherd."
"It's almost like one of my children getting killed. All the children are distraught." Elizabeth said.
In animal cruelty cases involving a fire-arm, a magistrate could charge a suspect with a felony, which could include time in jail. It is also against a Wake County ordinance for pet owners to allow their animals to run loose off their property.
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