Front Page  »  

Creston man facing prosecution after killing dog

October 25, 2018

Snoop Dogg

By DANIEL BLACKBURN

A criminal prosecution will proceed against a Creston man who admitted to shooting and killing a prize Rhodesian Ridgeback owned by a neighbor.

District Attorney Dan Dow has passed the case along to a deputy, according to the dog’s owner, David Murray. It remains uncertain if the case will be prosecuted as a felony or a misdemeanor.

The animal, named Snoop Dogg, died after being hit in the heart Aug. 16 by a bullet fired by a high-powered hunting rifle equipped with telescopic sights. Snoop Dogg was shot from a distance of approximately 200 yards, said Murray.

The pending prosecution follows more than nine weeks of investigation following admission to sheriff’s deputies by Stephen William Almond that he was the shooter.

“I can confirm Mr. Almond admitted to Deputy Ricks that he shot the dog,” wrote San Luis Obispo County Sheriff’s spokesman Tony Cipolla in an email to a reporter. “But I can’t detail the statements that were made during the investigation.”

Almond sat in a 16-foot-high shooting tower when he spotted Snoop Dogg in an open field.
The sheriff quickly recommended that the district attorney pursue felony animal cruelty charges.

While Dow pondered his decision, he wrote to Murray: “I completely understand how the passage of time seems like an eternity.  However, I can assure you that no one is getting preferential treatment. We take our duty and obligations very seriously.  We cannot and do not rush to judgment or make decisions in haste – we must make every filing decision carefully.  As I’m sure you can appreciate, this (thankfully) does not happen with frequency and we must be thorough.”

Dow added, “We continue to make this important case a high priority.”

A petition at Change.org now bears 1,000 signatures of people asking for a felony prosecution of Almond.

“We have hired a prominent local investigator at our personal expense,” Murray told Dow, “and we are willing to share with you the information we have gathered.”

That investigator, Alan Bond, suggested the district attorney’s “leisurely” progress on the prosecution is simply adding to the Murray family’s angst.

“Adding to their victimization is wrong. And it’s ironic, as I put the victim’s services program together for the district attorney.”

Murray said he and members of his family have seen Almond sitting in his shooting tower looking at us on our property through either binoculars or a scope.” He said he has informed the sheriff’s department about his concerns.


Loading...
Subjects:                 
Related:


12 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Cutting this killing event from a felony to a misdemeanor would be a travesty. Killing an animal is clearly listed as a felony. The question is whether this cold-blooded killing should be reduced to a misdemeanor. Reducing a charge could be appropriate where there is mitigating evidence that might show a lack of intent or a mistake by the accused. However, in this case, this man purposefully set a threatening two-story high “sniper outlaw deer stand” kind of tower atop a hill overlooking neighboring ranches. There is little or no hunting available on his suburban property. And he views his neighbors with a high-power telescopic scope rifle. There is no showing of remorse on his part. The tower is still there, and he still views his neighbors from it. He has not contacted the dog owners. The continued presence of the tower and his use of it indicates a callous disregard for both the law and his neighbors. Mercy should be shown to those who deserve it. This scofflaw has shown neither mercy nor contrition and does not deserve leniency. Reducing this obvious felony to a misdemeanor would make lady justice weep.


6

From what I read here. The dog posed NO threat at all. I mean, how scared can you be in a tower with a rifle? The tower is near the edge of the property. Who the hell needs something like that? Are you pointing that rifle at neighbors too? My bet is, he through it would be funny to try and hit the dog and then figured no one would ever find it. He didn’t count on the dog being loved so much. Probably because he knows very little of love. I mean how could you have love in your heart and do something like this?


7

We in our animal friendly SLO County value our ranch/winery/house dogs so much. If this were my dog I just…..can’t even. I have immense sympathy for the Murray family. I do hope the Almond case is prosecuted as a felony as my goodness – who on earth sees a dog and just decides to kill it? What kind of soul does that person have? No regard for life. I just can’t comprehend. And his deer tower? That’s not hunting. Not sure what it is but it seems like the lazy man’s way to kill. I just don’t get it. I hope SLO County stands up and says no – we won’t let that happen here. Someone who would kill like this obviously has something wrong with them and should be held accountable before he does something else.


10

“Almond sat in a 16-foot-high shooting tower when he spotted Snoop Dogg in an open field”.

He obviously wanted to shoot something that day. Why crawl up a 16 foot tower with a high powered hunting rifle for nothing.


Who puts a 16 foot shooting tower on their property anyway?


Hey San Luis Obispo County code enforcement; Can I put up a 16 foot tower in my backyard and is this dog murder’s tower up to code? Art Trinidade are you listening?


15

What goes around comes around.


10

Amazing how charges can be filed against the shooter, possibly even a felony. While at the same time corruption runs rampant thru the SLO political world and nothing has happened to these felons.


15

Ahhh… So Almond shoots the dog, cops to it without hesitation. Translation: He feels entitled, he’s devoid of moral fiber, and he’s probably got more money than he needs. Maybe that’s why Dow hesitated so long. Almond claims to be a Texas big game hunter. Yeah. Sure.


16

Good, fry his ass!


29

Sniper fire on a human’s dependent, a pet that is not a threat to livestock should be addressed. This may happen more than it should and a legal judgment should be established that fit our community. I do not support shooting unleashed dogs unless there is clear evidence of livestock damage.


25
1 2