K-9 Shot Dead

Lenoir County Sheriff's Deputies say last Friday he killed 7-year-old “Mighty”--a Belgian Malinois police dog--with a shot gun.

By: Arthur Mondale | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: August 23, 2008

The killing of any domesticated animal for no reason can lead to trouble with the law.
But the killing of a police K-9 can put you in hot water.
24-year-old Matthew Davis faces one felony count of cruelty to an animal.
Lenoir County Sheriff's Deputies say last Friday he killed 7-year-old “Mighty”--a Belgian Malinois police dog--with a shot gun.
But here's the dilemma.
Davis claims he had no idea the animal was a canine officer.
Last Friday night--just before midnight----“Mighty”--a canine with the Narcotics Division in Lenoir County wandered away from the home of his master, Deputy David Wise.
He never returned.
Eyewitnesses tell police the dog charged a group of people who were sitting in a truck near a neighbors house.
They say “Mighty” scratched the vehicle in the process---and the driver, Matthew Davis shot the dog.
Davis claims he didn't know it was a police dog.
Police say either way it was a senseless killing.
“We now have statements that have led us to believe that animal was not acting in an aggressive manner and that animal may have been killed because it jumped up on the side of this man's truck and scratched his truck,” said Maj Chris Hill.
Davis faces one count of felony cruelty to an animal.
He could face prison time if convicted.