RCMP investigating after family’s dog shot in St. Louis

A grieving family living in St. Louis is left with many questions after its beloved pet was shot and left for dead.

Christopher Kent said he and his partner were home Friday night watching television when Bailey, a nine-year-old mix of Pyrenees and Dobermann, started barking. Christopher, who had just returned home from work, went outside to investigate.

He said Bailey was tied up about 10 feet away and nearby there was a stranger, dressed all in black with their head covered.

“I was thinking maybe they were just looking to just maybe pet my dog or something like that, but he turned around really suspiciously, like he was concealing something,” Kent recalled, adding that the stranger laughed as they walked away.

A young Bailey. (Submitted/ Christopher Kent)

Kent then returned to the house, and roughly half an hour later there was a loud banging on the window and their neighbour was yelling “Your dog got shot, your dog got shot.”

“I ran outside. My dog was near the door and she was panting and there was blood all over her,” he said.

While holding Bailey in his arms, Kent immediately called the police. The neighbour told Kent they heard two or three shots.

After telling the RCMP what happened, Kent, with no option locally for an emergency veterinarian, said he drove to College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon. That’s where he was told Bailey had been shot in the shoulder and, while the bullet missed her lungs, her chest and abdomen were filling up with air and she was still bleeding.

READ MORE:

• Dad says dog that bit his five-year-old son has history of attacking children
• ‘A last resort:’ RM facing backlash after passing bylaw allowing killing of roaming dogs
• Woman hurt, dog dead after vehicle rolls and catches fire on Highway 5

The cost for surgery and stay at the college, amounted to over $8,000 so Kent, who is the sole financial provider for his family, made the difficult decision to have the dog put down.

“So she died in my arms at two in the morning,” he said.

The couple has four children, and Kent acknowledged his daughters were very upset over the loss. Adding to the family’s frustration, he said, is the fact that his 14-year-old daughter had been receiving threats and disturbing messages through social media both before and after the shooting.

“We’ve just been up kind of going through everything that we can in social media. We’ve been trying to find his name,” Kent said.

The Saskatchewan RCMP confirmed the incident is under investigation. Anyone with information was asked to contact Wakaw RCMP or Crime Stoppers.

As the family waits for answers, they have plans to plant a tree in Bailey’s honour.

“She didn’t deserve to go the way she did. We still had lots of time to spend with her,” Kent said.