pit on your face

Created: Thursday, July 1, 2010 5:30 a.m. CDT
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com


Jurors find man guilty in shooting death of his dog

WOODSTOCK – A 57-year-old Woodstock man could be sentenced to up to three years in prison for shooting his dog in the head after it bit him twice in two weeks.

Jurors convicted Kirk M. Locher, of 831 Washington St., of reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated cruelty to an animal after deliberating for almost three hours Wednesday. Judge Michael Feetterer could sentence him to probation or to one to three years in prison at a hearing Aug. 25.

During Locher’s two-day trial, prosecutors said he leaned across his kitchen table after an evening of drinking whiskey and shot his 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever, Breeze. When police entered the home about 3 a.m. May 31, 2008, they found a pool of blood in the kitchen and the dog’s dead body covered in garbage in a garbage can.

Locher had awoken his wife and told her he was going to shoot the dog, which was 3 or 4 feet away from her at the time. She didn’t take him seriously until she saw the dog just after he had fired the revolver. She fled and called police about 1 a.m.

During closing arguments Wednesday afternoon, Locher’s attorney, Dan Hofmann, argued that the shooting was a legal euthanasia and that Locher’s wife never was in any danger.
Locher loaded the gun with a single bullet, pointed it toward the dog at a 45-degree angle, and shot the dog directly in the head.
“Donna [Locher] was never in any danger,” Hofmann told jurors. “You know that because what Kirk [Locher] intended to have occur, occurred.”
Hofmann argued that the dog became aggressive about a month before the shooting after Locher had to hold it down at the veterinarian’s office to have its nails trimmed. The dog growled and went after Donna Locher’s grandchildren, although adults stopped it, and bit Locher twice in two weeks.
The second bite happened just before the shooting and left a puncture wound on Locher’s thumb.

Prosecutors argued that shooting a gun inside a home after drinking whiskey was reckless and that Donna Locher’s reaction of fleeing the house showed she thought she was in danger.
They also argued that the shooting did not qualify as euthanasia because gunshot wounds are not a state-approved method of destroying dogs.

Assistant State’s Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein argued that a loving pet owner would have taken a dog that had bitten twice to a trainer, a veterinarian, or Animal Control. Prosecutors argued that he acted out of anger.
“The only loud and aggressive one at the Locher house was the defendant,” Eisenstein said.

Copyright © 2010 Northwest Herald. All rights reserved.


Created: Wednesday, June 30, 2010 4:22 p.m. CDT
By JILLIAN DUCHNOWSKI - jduchnowski@nwherald.com


Jury deciding dog shooting case

WOODSTOCK - Jurors are deliberating whether a 57-year-old allegedly drunken Woodstock man was legally justified in fatally shooting the dog that he said had bitten him twice in two weeks.

Kirk M. Locher, of 831 Washington St., stood trial this week on felony charges of aggravated cruelty to an animal and reckless discharge of a firearm. If convicted of either, he could be sentenced to probation or up to three years in prison.

Prosecutors argued this afternoon that Kirk Locher endangered his wife when he shot his three-year-old yellow Labrador, Breeze, in the head while the dog was just feet from where his wife was sitting at the kitchen table. The incident happened late on May 30, 2008, or early the next morning.
Prosecutors also argued that Locher shot the dog out of anger, not because he was using an approved method of euthanasia.

McHenry County Assistant State’s Attorney Sharyl Eisenstein argued that a loving pet owner would have taken a dog that had bitten twice to a trainer, a veterinarian, or Animal Control. A loving pet owner would not shoot the dog after a night of drinking, leave blood pooled on the floor, and dump the dog’s body in a garbage can, as Locher is accused of doing.
“The only loud and aggressive one at the Locher house was the defendant,” Eisenstein said.

But defense attorney Dan Hofmann argued that Locher’s wife was never in danger. Locher loaded the gun with a single bullet, pointed it toward the dog at a 45-degree angle and shot the dog directly in the head.
"Donna [Locher] was never in any danger,” Hofmann told jurors. “You know that because what Kirk [Locher] intended to have occur occurred.”
Hofmann also argued that Kirk Locher was legally justified in shooting the dog, because he thought it was necessary to prevent future dog bites and because future dog bites would have been a greater harm than a bloody and visually unpleasant euthanasia.

Jurors began deliberating about 4 p.m. Check www.nwherald.com for an update on the verdict.

Copyright © 2010 Northwest Herald. All rights reserved.


By Charles Keeshan
Daily Herald Staff

Published: 6/29/2010 10:59 AM
Updated: 6/29/2010 4:49 PM

What was motive behind McHenry Co. dog shooting
Was it euthanasia or an execution?
That's the question before a McHenry County jury this week as they began hearing testimony Tuesday in the trial of a 57-year-old man accused of holding a gun to the head of the family dog and pulling the trigger.
Kirk M. Locher, of Woodstock, faces charges of aggravated cruelty and reckless discharge of a firearm in the May 31, 2008, shooting that killed Breeze, his 3-year-old yellow Labrador retriever.

During opening statements Tuesday, a prosecutor told the jury Locher was drunk and angry at the dog early that morning when he carried a handgun into his kitchen and fired one shot into the dog's head as his stunned wife sat nearby. Police later found the dog's body in a garbage can.

"This is a case about destruction, a case about a man out of control, a man fueled by whiskey," Assistant McHenry County State's Attorney Ryan Blackney said. "You can call it an execution. It was nothing else."

Locher's attorney, however, called it euthanasia. Daniel Hofmann said his client loved his dog and the dog loved him, but those feelings changed about a month before the shooting when Locher had to hold down Breeze while the dog was having its nails cut.
From then on, Hofmann said, Breeze turned aggressive, biting Locher and going after a grandchild on another occasion. On the night of the shooting, Hofmann said, Breeze bit Locher for a second time.
"Kirk felt that at that point what he needed to do was make sure that it never happens again and he euthanized it," he said. "He was not acting recklessly and he was legally justified."

Locher's wife, Donna Locher, was among the first witnesses called by prosecutors. She told the jury her husband was angry and bleeding from his thumb when he woke her up about 1 a.m. that morning while getting his gun from a bedroom.
"He said 'I'm going to shoot the dog'," she said. "He said the dog had bit him a second time. He was upset. I guess very upset."
She testified she followed him to the kitchen and was sitting at a table when her husband reached over and shot Breeze as the dog sat across from them.

Both charges against Locher are Class 4 felonies, punishable by a maximum one to three years in prison, or probation. His trial is expected to end Wednesday.
bnd.com
Posted on Thu, Jun. 10, 2010




Owner of abused, abandoned pit bull gets probation; 'She got off easy for what she did to him,' new owners say
BY BETH HUNDSDORFER
News-Democrat

Tommy the pit bill, who was found beaten, starved and discarded in a trash can eight months ago, stood outside while his former owner, Tracia Johnson, pleaded guilty in court Wednesday to animal cruelty and received a one-year probation sentence.
Tommy came to the St. Clair County Building with his new owners, Sue and Tim McGowan, to protest animal abuse. Inside, St. Clair County Associate Judge Laninya Cason accepted Johnson's guilty plea. Cason then sentenced Johnson to one year of probation, during which time she cannot own any animals, must complete 250 hours of community service, and forfeited her $1,000 bail.
Assistant State's Attorney Benjamin Henning asked for 60 days in the county jail.
Johnson, 34, declined to comment after the plea.
"She got off easy for what she did to him," Tim McGowan said after he learned about the terms of the plea.
"It should have been a felony," said Jackie Spiker, founder of Hope Animal Rescues in Alton, who helped save Tommy. "If the judicial system would have reviewed the law, she should have faced a felony charge."
A trash collector found Tommy emaciated and injured in a trash can in back of Johnson's home at 503 Mildred Ave., in Cahokia. The dog had an electrical cord embedded in his neck, his body was covered with bruises and burns, and he weighed only 30 pounds -- 15 to 20 pounds less than a healthy dog his size.
Spiker remembered the first time she saw Tommy.
"I covered him in a blanket and I was going to pick him up, and the two animal control guys told me that he was going to bite me right in the face," Spiker said. "As I went down to get him, I was thinking, 'Oh God, don't let him bite me. Don't let them be right.' But I picked him up, and he just melted into my arms."
Tommy was immediately taken to the Horseshoe Animal Hospital. When a veterinarian went to remove the embedded cord around his neck, Spiker said Tommy began to lick the vet's face.
He was in so much pain, but he knew the doctor was trying to help him," Spiker said.
Spiker said Tommy has scars on the outside, but his behavior wasn't affected by the abuse. He has never showed any signs of aggression, and lapped up the attention brought by the media coverage of the case, Spiker said.
"He felt like he was the center of everything," Spiker said. "He was the reason for the party. He's still that way."
After months of rehabilitation, Tommy was put up for adoption. Hope Rescue received 47 applications, but one stood out. On the application under breed, applicant Tim McGowan wrote, "Tommy the-never-to-be-trashed again Pit Bull Puppy."
The McGowans got the dog Dec. 13.
Tommy now plays on six acres near Lenzburg with his two canine sisters, a Labrador Retriever named Dixie and a shepherd mix named Little Bit. His favorite toy is a chew toy.
"He hit the jackpot and we hit the jackpot," McGowan said. "He's such a sweet guy. He's well-adjusted, now that he knows what love is."
When a reporter asked McGowan what he thought Tommy would say to Johnson if he could speak, McGowan was quiet for a moment, then said, "How could you do this to me?"
Contact Beth Hundsdorfer at bhundsdorfer@bnd.com or 239-2570.

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