A pet dog was found dead from a gun shot to its side
MACOMB, IL -- McDonough County authorities are investigating the shooting of a family pet near Macomb Wednesday evening.
The sheriff's office says the pet owner let the miniature dachsund-papillon mix and her beagle out side around 6 o'clock Wednesday night.
About an hour later only one dog returned.
The next day the beagle led the owner to the body of the other dog, which had been shot with a 22 caliber bullet.
Detective Nicholas Petitgout said right now officers are still talking to neighbors to try and gather as much information as possible.
Investigators think this was a completely random act.
He says authorities hope community members will come forward with any information to help solve the case.
"The challenges are that it does kind of pull on everybody's heart strings," said Petitgout. "This was a pet, this wasn't a stray dog or something like that. This woman loves her animals. People in the neighborhood typically don't stand for things like this. And a challenge we face is it's a completely random act as far as we can tell right now. We need the communities help."
Whoever is found guilty of this crime faces an animal cruelty charge, which comes with a fine and jail time.
Petitgout says authorities are taking this crime very seriously and will investigate it to the best of their ability.
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