Dog shootings create anger, fear in small community

PULASKIFIELD, Mo. -- It was bad enough when the three dogs Valerie Yonker counted on to make her feel safe while her husband is deployed to Iraq were shot dead.

Now she is being taunted in the middle of the night by youths making yelping and whimpering sounds as they drive past her 80-acre farm in the foothills of southwest Missouri.

Worse yet, she and her neighbors in unincorporated Pulaskifield are frustrated because they believe they know who killed the dogs, as well as at least 12 others that they say have been fatally shot or have disappeared in recent months. Some dogs were killed in their owners' driveways. One woman's puppy was shot while standing under the eaves of her house.

Nearly all the shots were fired from passing vehicles.

For their part, authorities said they are trying to sort through rumors spawned by the shootings. So far, they have confirmed only four dogs that have been shot, said Capt. James Smith, chief deputy of Barry County.

Not enough evidence

Authorities said three boys were considered suspects, but they don't yet have enough evidence for arrests. The Humane Society of Missouri offered a $1,000 reward Friday in hopes of bringing an end to the killings that have stunned the nearly 400 residents in the community.

Indeed, some parents are afraid to let their children play outside for fear they'll be hit by a stray bullet.

"It is scary," said Judy Younker, who has four children between the ages of 6 and 11, as well as two dogs. "I don't let the kids play in the front of the house anymore."

People also are going to great lengths to protect their dogs. Yonker now loads her new German shepherd and Labrador-mix into her car each workday and takes them on a 90-minute ride to her mother's house in Springfield, where they stay while she works.

Before the shootings, nearly everyone in Pulaskifield allowed their dogs to roam free. Besides one church and a fire station, the community is mostly farm land used for cattle and hay.

"If a dog is chasing cows or causing problems, then the owner will take care of it. No one keeps their dogs on leashes out here," resident Bill Roberts said.

It was the shooting of Roberts' 200-pound bullmastiff on Nov. 8 that caused residents to realize that the dog shootings may be more widespread.

Roberts had honked his pickup truck horn -- the familiar signal for Hooch, the stray he'd taken in four years earlier -- to return to the barn. A few minutes later, Roberts heard a gunshot.

'Dropped dead right there'

He found Hooch bleeding under the street light in front of Pulaskifield Fire Department. No one was around, but the shell casing from a high-powered rifle was in the street.

"He was shot right in the middle of his throat," Roberts said. "The bullet severed his collar. He dropped dead right there."

An angry and grieving Roberts called the Barry County Sheriff's Department. Talk of other dog shootings arose as neighbors offered condolences in the death of animal that many knew from his nightly rides in the back of the Roberts' pickup.

"The neighborhood was being terrorized, and I didn't know any of this was going on," Roberts said.

Keith Parris, chief juvenile officer in Barry County, said the matter was still under investigation. Parris said he couldn't discuss specifics because the suspects are juveniles.

Roberts said he has found several other shooting incidents and has encouraged residents to file police reports.

Brothers Robert and Philip Goluvski each had three of their prized foxhounds disappear. The dogs, valued between $125 and $500 each, vanished while tracking back to their respective homes after various hunting trips.

The dogs all had collars that identified their owners. None was returned, the Goluvskis said.

Smith said he believes the dogs may have wandered into a private hunting reserve and died after becoming caught in snares.

"There's a 50-50 chance of that, but I believe they were shot because they were on their way home," Robert Goluvski said.

Robert Goluvski also found the carcasses of four other unidentified dogs that apparently were shot and left to rot in a ditch in April.

"It seems like everybody knew something, but they didn't want to point fingers," he said.