It’s possible that the dog called “Tank” charged Kenny Woodburn [above], who shot the canine in self-defense. It does not, however, seem likely. “A Maryland man shot dead his neighbor’s dog after it wandered on to his property, and then posted a picture of its body on Facebook,” dailymail.co.uk reports. “Before killing the one-year-old dog Kenny Woodburn had posted a warning on social media saying if it strayed in his yard again it would die.” Specifically, “Hey going to dye today.” The spelling mistakes don’t help Mr. Woodburn’s case. Nor, of course, does the Facebook posting. But what makes him a poster child for firearms irresponsibility is the fact that . . . [Note: picture of Mr. Woodburn posing with the dog he killed after the jump]
He could have dealt with a dangerous dog in any number of ways short of shooting it.
To review: you can only use deadly force on another person when you or other innocent life are in imminent danger of death or grievous bodily harm. The threat must be credible and imminently imminent (i.e., in the process of occurring). The same standard applies to family pets. Obviously. Which is why Mr. Woodburn posted that “The f***** came after me … so I put him down.”
The police, prosecution judge and/or jury will have to establish the validity of that expletive deleted claim. But the prior warning indicates that Mr. Woodburn could have called the owner before or during the incident, dialed animal control, used pepper spray on the pet or tried to make friends with his supposed four-legged nemesis.
For that failure of foresight and planning that led to the I’m-thinking-enitrely-unnecessary death of a beloved dog, Mr. Woodburn get the IGOTD nod. While owner Richele Ince gets a rebuke for letting her dog wander freely and our deepest condolences for the loss of a family friend.