Pa. borough manager accused of shooting, killing neighbor’s dog with crossbow: reports

[Bon]

EmilyAnn Jackman |ejackman@pennlive.com

• A Butler County borough manager was charged Wednesday with animal cruelty after police accused him of fatally shooting his neighbor’s dog with a crossbow and tossing the dead animal into a dumpster outside the municipal building where he works, according to news reports.

  Steven Thomas May, 43, of Saxonburg was charged with a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty to animals along with counts of criminal mischief, tampering with evidence, and causing damage to property, according to WPXI.

  Police said that on Nov. 11, two dogs that belonged to May’s neighbor ran away from the property, but only one of them came back home a half hour later. The neighbors soon began looking for the lost dog, a Red Merle Australian Shepherd, TribLivereported.

  Then, three days later on Nov. 14, May called the owner of the missing dog and said he found the dog hit by a car and disposed of its body in a dumpster by the Saxonburg borough building, police said.

  Two days after that, the owner’s mother contacted May to get additional details about what happened. May then confessed to shooting the dog with a crossbow because he thought the animal was a coyote. After he realized it was just a dog, he dumped the dead animal in a dumpster at the municipal building. He offered to pay for a new dog, TribLive said.

  The woman reported the incident to the authorities that same day, police said. May then went to the police chief’s office and told him what he’d done and that he dumped the animal in the dumpster by the municipal building because he knew it’d be emptied two days later, TribLive reported.

  “It’s a mistaken identity,” May’s attorney, Phil DiLucente said toWPXI. “Hunters, every day, shoot at people by accident thinking they’re animals. Now imagine a four-legged creature, no dog tags, no anything, and it looks like a coyote. That is the mistaken identity of a dog.”

  “He feels horribly because, like all of us, he loves animals,” DiLucente added.

  The municipal building’s cameras also captured May placing something in the trash before driving away on Nov. 11, TribLive said.

  Right now, May wants to make amends with the family and return to serving the Saxonburg community, according to DiLucente.

  “This is a newer position for him. He takes his job very seriously and it’s unfortunate for someone like him to have to experience this,” DiLucente said to WPXI.

  May was released from custody and has been ordered to appear for a preliminary court hearing on Jan. 23, TribLive reported

[Polo]

If he is a hunter, he should know the difference between a dog and coyote.  I think there may be more to this story.

[Petee]

Probably so because unless he has a sight problem, they are very different, particularly the Red Merle and Red Australian Shepherds.  

My daughter has both a Red and a Blue Merle, and never would they be mistaken for a coyote.  

Yes, there's more to this story.

 

https://www.google.com/search?q=Solid+Red+Australian+Shepherd&sca_esv=593172625&sxsrf=AM9HkKnkPp2_rHOMfRI0KIWtTgGdObkeRQ%3A1703290556000&ei=uyaGZajYPMedptQP1qSl6AY&ved=0ahUKEwjooajko6SDAxXHjokEHVZSCW0Q4dUDCBA&uact=5&oq=Solid+Red+Australian+Shepherd&gs_lp=Egxnd3Mtd2l6LXNlcnAiHVNvbGlkIFJlZCBBdXN0cmFsaWFuIFNoZXBoZXJkMgoQABiABBgUGIcCMgUQABiABDIKEAAYgAQYFBiHAjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yBhAAGBYYHjIGEAAYFhgeMgYQABgWGB4yCxAAGIAEGIoFGIYDMgsQABiABBiKBRiGA0jmrgFQAFi8rQFwCXgBkAEAmAGZAaABqyOqAQQ1LjMzuAEDyAEA-AEBqAIRwgIEECMYJ8ICChAjGIAEGIoFGCfCAgsQLhiABBiKBRiRAsICChAAGIAEGIoFGEPCAhEQLhiABBixAxiDARjHARjRA8ICDhAuGIAEGLEDGMcBGNEDwgILEC4YgAQYsQMYgwHCAhAQLhiABBiKBRjHARivARgnwgILEAAYgAQYigUYkQLCAhQQLhjHARiRAhixAxjRAxiABBiKBcICEBAAGIAEGIoFGEMYsQMYgwHCAgsQABiABBixAxiDAcICChAuGIAEGIoFGEPCAggQABiABBixA8ICCxAuGIAEGMcBGK8BwgIHECMY6gIYJ8ICFxAuGIAEGOMEGOkEGMgDGOoCGLQC2AEBwgIUEAAYgAQY4wQY6QQY6gIYtALYAQLiAwQYACBBiAYBugYGCAEQARgIugYGCAIQARgB&sclient=gws-wiz-serp#vhid=KFkl1IWaQEPJVM&vssid=l

[disgruntled]

thought it was a coyote?  hogwash.

"just a dog"?  Shame on him.  

"found a dog hit by a car"?  Liar

"municipal building dumpster"?  Most likely not intended for "government officials" to dispose of bodies of any sort, or for personal use.  Which this clearly was in his case.  

He needs to be charged and he needs to forfeit his hunting privileges and equipment to do so---and be subjected to having his eyesight checked.  Next he'll be shooting one of those adorable little cows because he thinks it's a deer.  

[Bon]

Jan 23 is his hearing. I will be following up on this story. 🤓

[Polo]

Thank you in advance, Bon, for keeping us posted as to the outcome.