ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. -- After a 7-month-old puppy was shot and killed, all Matt Kemper has left of his dog, Jambi, are pictures. Kemper said he took Jambi out in the back yard to play, thinking the back gate was closed. The gate wasn't latched and Jambi got out and began barking at a neighbor. In the time it took Kemper to get a treat and run after his dog, he heard a yelp.
"It was horrible ... just being outside playing with her and then, next thing, she's shot," Kemper said. Kemper said his neighbor shot the dog. Not knowing how serious the injury was, he confronted his neighbor. "I walked over to the neighbor's and asked, 'What happened, why'd you shoot my dog?'" Kemper said. "They were saying, 'He was bothering us.' I said, 'Biting on your leg is bothering you, but barking, come on, that's silly.'" The neighbor, Anthony Patterson, 21, took off running down the street, where police quickly caught up with him. "He was located shortly after the incident and was immediately taken into custody and charged with cruelty to animals, a felony in the third degree, as well as violating a municipal order for discharging an air gun within the city limits," said Capt. Mike Classey of the Atlantic Beach Police Department. Kemper took Jambi to the veterinarian, but it was too late. "When I got there, they could pick up a faint heartbeat, but there was nothing they could do," Kemper told Channel 4's Ashley Townsend. Kemper said Jambi was the first dog he'd ever had and described her as perfect. He said he's still mourning the loss and he has not decided whether he'll start over with another puppy.
Kemper said he took Jambi out in the back yard to play, thinking the back gate was closed. The gate wasn't latched and Jambi got out and began barking at a neighbor.
In the time it took Kemper to get a treat and run after his dog, he heard a yelp.
"It was horrible ... just being outside playing with her and then, next thing, she's shot," Kemper said.
Kemper said his neighbor shot the dog. Not knowing how serious the injury was, he confronted his neighbor.
"I walked over to the neighbor's and asked, 'What happened, why'd you shoot my dog?'" Kemper said. "They were saying, 'He was bothering us.' I said, 'Biting on your leg is bothering you, but barking, come on, that's silly.'"
The neighbor, Anthony Patterson, 21, took off running down the street, where police quickly caught up with him.
"He was located shortly after the incident and was immediately taken into custody and charged with cruelty to animals, a felony in the third degree, as well as violating a municipal order for discharging an air gun within the city limits," said Capt. Mike Classey of the Atlantic Beach Police Department.
Kemper took Jambi to the veterinarian, but it was too late.
"When I got there, they could pick up a faint heartbeat, but there was nothing they could do," Kemper told Channel 4's Ashley Townsend.
Kemper said Jambi was the first dog he'd ever had and described her as perfect. He said he's still mourning the loss and he has not decided whether he'll start over with another puppy.