"Did you hear a gunshot?"

I'm babysitting for my sister last Friday, and notice several police cars at the house next door. I thought it was odd, but it is a nice neighborhood and I didn't think anything big was going on. My sister gets home and talks to the neighbor before coming into the house. "Did you hear a gunshot?" she asks me. Well of course not, or I wouldn't be sitting around watching Sponge Bob with the kids. It turns out this is what happened.

Right behind the row of houses where my sister lives is a place which does wedding receptions. The man who owns the business was caught trespassing onto the neighbors yard, shooting their dog in the throat with a gun with a silencer on it. It seems the dog barked too much and was not good for business. The neighbor showed up unusually early for a Friday to find the man in their yard with a big bag containing the body of the still alive but seriously injured dog. The dog died shortly after. It was on the local news down here, and the man said he was concerned for the dog, and once in the yard it got out of hand. Of course that makes little sense, seeing how he showed up with a gun, silencer, and body bag for the dog. PETA has agreed to work with them on going after the guy legally. I know from reading here PETA is not always a perfect organization, but I do hope they help put it to this guy. It sounded like on the news it was all over. Oh, forgot to mention, there have been several dogs mysteriously vanishing though the subdivision out of the back yards. No one knew what happened before, but now they all believe the guy was behind the disappearances all along.

Sorry, done rambling.

Wow, this is horrible...gonna try and find the story online...this man is sick! I bet for now on he won't have business ever!

Holy cow!

1. I'm glad you and your family are all safe! How scary to have anyone actually shooting that close to houses!
2. What a freakin' lunatic! At least Texas has decent cruelty laws on the books. I just looked at the law and for intentionally killing an animal without the concent of the owner, the maximum penalties are a fine up to $10,000 and imprisonment from 180 days to 2 years. It is a State Jail Felony.

Lessee...shoot the dog because he makes too much noise and interrupts the receptions. What's next? SHoot kids because their playing makes to much noise? What if one of your parties annoys his clients?

Oh the other hand...can you shoot his clients for their partying and bothering you?

poor doggies

I hope the agencies can give this man what he deserves...
A poor dog, doing what is it's natural instinct....

Originally Posted by caprice

Wow, this is horrible...gonna try and find the story online...this man is sick! I bet for now on he won't have business ever!

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I'm trying to find some links for you too. It aired on Fox 7 here in Austin. Their site is www.fox7.com but I can't find it there yet. The site for the wedding reception place is http://www.plantationhouse.us/about.htm and Norris Cole in the pic is the one who shot the dog. I'm not sure if the story appeared in the local paper yet at www.statesman.com. I know they were behind in covering it for whatever reason. I'm going to google the guy's name and see what I can find.

Originally Posted by gemlady

Oh the other hand...can you shoot his clients for their partying and bothering you?

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Funny you say that, because you can hear the bands blarring music all the time during receptions.

Originally Posted by MaratWC

I'm trying to find some links for you too. It aired on Fox 7 here in Austin. Their site is www.fox7.com but I can't find it there yet. The site for the wedding reception place is http://www.plantationhouse.us/about.htm and Norris Cole in the pic is the one who shot the dog. I'm not sure if the story appeared in the local paper yet at www.statesman.com. I know they were behind in covering it for whatever reason. I'm going to google the guy's name and see what I can find.

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Wow, and they guy has three kids. What kind of example is he setting? What a jerk!

He was caught red-handed! Has he been arrested yet?

I can't find anything yet on it. What's going on with it? Do you know?

Originally Posted by Rockcat

He was caught red-handed! Has he been arrested yet?

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He was arrested and held in jail last Friday night. I'm a little embarrassed to tell more of the story, but here goes. When the neighbor came home unexectedly, he made up a story to cover himself. He screamed to them to leave immediately, he had chased a black man into the yard doing something suspecious. The old "blame it on the black man" excuse almost worked. The man even sugested calling the police. The policeman almost let him go, seeing he was a wealthy, well dressed businessman and had no prior record. Another policeman had a hunch, said he just knew the guy wasn't honest, and searched the truck. The truck was where he had hid the gun and silencer when he went back and got a body bag for the dog. Even now, 2005, he almost got away with it due to preconceived notions.

As far as what all becomes of this. As I mentioned earlier, PETA wants in on the law suit. The lady of the home where the dog was killed has a sister who works for a large law firm. They have agreed to take the case and represent the family. I was also told the Texas Alchohol, Tabacco, and Firearms Commission or some name like that was also now involved. He is going to get something. I hope his business is ruined, and whatever else is enough to prevent this man from ever harming animals again. I do support the right to have guns, but in this case I hope he is banned from that as well, since he uses his weapons to take the law into his own hands.

Originally Posted by caprice

I can't find anything yet on it. What's going on with it? Do you know?

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I can't either. I emailed my sister and brother-in-law on it. The local newspaper just interviewed the family on Wednesday, so maybe it is a bit early for an article to come out. On the other hand, I'm not sure what took so long to do an interview. This happened last Friday. My brother-in-law also stated it was on local station KEYE 42, but I can't find a link there either. I've googled the guy's name but nothing with that either. Grrr.. I saw it on TV myself. I don't know why there isn't a link on the web site. Maybe I could call the station and ask. If I get one, I'll post a link to it.

I just don't understand why he just didn't talk to the owners first. If it was that annoying to him, the owners could have put the dog in the house atleast. Good God! Still can't find the story...

Originally Posted by MaratWC

I can't either. I emailed my sister and brother-in-law on it. The local newspaper just interviewed the family on Wednesday, so maybe it is a bit early for an article to come out. On the other hand, I'm not sure what took so long to do an interview. This happened last Friday. My brother-in-law also stated it was on local station KEYE 42, but I can't find a link there either. I've googled the guy's name but nothing with that either. Grrr.. I saw it on TV myself. I don't know why there isn't a link on the web site. Maybe I could call the station and ask. If I get one, I'll post a link to it.

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Thanks.

I am real interested in this...literally not too far from you and my sister-in-law lives in Austin.

If he's convicted of a felony he can never own a firearm again. The ATF is likely involved simply because of the use of the firearm to commit a crime (and likely a felony animal cruelty charge), which will most likely mean another felony charge against him. It sounds like PETA isn't even needed for this case (they can be a real asset to cruelty cases because of their resources and on-staff lawyers).

Originally Posted by caprice

Wow, and they guy has three kids. What kind of example is he setting? What a jerk!

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The family who had their dog killed had four kids. My sister tells me her neighbor says they cried for days. They were with their mom when it all happened, and were there to see the dog die at the end from a bullet wound in the throat. Four kids, oldest I think is about 13 or 14, and their dog, their fur baby, gunned down. If this were the old west, I'd be recruiting some of you for a posse to go after him.

Originally Posted by caprice

Thanks.

I am real interested in this...literally not too far from you and my sister-in-law lives in Austin.

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If you are familiar with Austin, this happened up in the suburb Pflugerville on the north side. It is a beautiful, new, peaceful, sparkling clean neighborhood. In fact, it could be anyone's neighborhood and this could have happened to anyone.

Originally Posted by MaratWC

The family who had their dog killed had four kids. My sister tells me her neighbor says they cried for days. They were with their mom when it all happened, and were there to see the dog die at the end from a bullet wound in the throat. Four kids, oldest I think is about 13 or 14, and their dog, their fur baby, gunned down. If this were the old west, I'd be recruiting some of you for a posse to go after him.

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That's sick. I actually reread that post and I wasn't clear...Norris Cole looks like he has 3 kids according to a photo on his site. What kind of an example is he setting for his own children? I wonder what the wife thinks about all this? This is just devestating.

Originally Posted by MaratWC

If this were the old west, I'd be recruiting some of you for a posse to go after him.

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And you'd probably have plenty of volunteers!