A 73-year-old Bronx man has been arrested for fatally shooting his neighbor's Maltese dog. According to the News, Donald Savino allegedly fired his two pellets from a high-powered air rifle from an open window at the 8-year-old dog, Spike, around 6 p.m. Tuesday. “He was smelling a tree,” said Spike’s owner, Marco Lopez. “Suddenly, I hear this noise...I hear my dog cry—he was screaming in pain.”
The fluffy 9-pound dog was rushed to an emergency vet, but he died from his injuries. Lopez said his wife and three children were devastated by the loss: “You have no idea all the pain we went through,” Lopez said. “We loved (Spike) so much...It was such a terrible way that he died.” Lopez bought a new poodle puppy, Lex, on Saturday to ease the family's pain.
Savino, who had a sign reading "Keep your dog off the grass” on his lawn, will be charged with animal cruelty and weapons possession (he was found with a Crossman .22-caliber Magnum rifle). As for why he did it, he allegedly confessed to officers: “OK, I did it. I didn’t mean to kill the dog. I just wanted to shoot it in the butt and scare him.”
