At approximately 11:48 a.m. on January 26, the Howard County Sheriff’s Office was notified of an animal cruelty investigation that was initiated by the Kokomo Police Department. Prior to our involvement, Kokomo Police Officers were dispatched to the Kokomo Humane Society for a dog that had been shot multiple times and abandoned. Subsequent investigation by the Kokomo Police Department and Humane Society revealed the dog’s owners and that the potential crime occurred in the county near State Road 19 and 300 South.
Due to the quick spread of misinformation and the names of those potentially involved on social media, the dog’s owners met with Deputies to tell their side of the story to end the harassment they were receiving. During the course of the interview, it was determined that the dog who has been referred to as “Bear” on social media is actually a brindle pit bull named Leonard. The dog’s owner explained that while eating, she allowed Leonard to eat out of a bowl that she too was eating from when she was attacked in the face without warning by Leonard. Leonard’s owner was taken to the Emergency Room by her boyfriend where she received stiches around her nose and face.
Leonard’s owner explained that when they arrived home, they placed him in a separate room as they feared he would attack them again. The owner called her mother who has experience working with animals and asked that she remove the dog from the home and make sure it was taken care of. The owner stated she did not think that Leonard was going to be killed when she made this request.
On January 25, Leonard’s owner was notified by the Kokomo Humane Society that they possibly had her injured dog and that she needed to come identify him. After positively identifying the dog as Leonard, the owner contacted her mother to find out what happened and provided investigators with the names of those suspected in shooting the dog.
On January 27, Investigators met with the suspects, a 16 year-old juvenile and a family member. During the course of the interview, the suspects admitted to picking Leonard up from the owner’s house at her request. The suspects stated that they attempted to contact several agencies to see if someone would take Leonard but were refused by all due to his aggressive behavior. The suspects decided that the best course of action was to take Leonard out into the county and release him from his kennel to run wild. However, when they attempted to release Leonard, he became extremely aggressive and they feared he would hurt them or someone else if released. The juvenile then retrieved a handgun from the vehicle and over the course of the next several seconds, shot Leonard while in his cage multiple times until he thought he was dead. After verifying the same, both suspects left Leonard in his kennel on the side of the road.
Preliminarily, the juvenile suspect in this case has been charged with cruelty to an animal and carrying a handgun without a license. The names in this case have been intentionally withheld due to the amount of threats and harassments that all parties involved have received. This case remains active and any further charges will be forwarded to the Howard County Prosecutor at the conclusion of the investigation. Anyone with further information is asked to contact Detective Rod Shaffer at 765-614-3475.