MASONTOWN, Pa. (KDKA) – A Fayette County family is looking for answers after their dog was shot and killed in their backyard with their children close by.
We spoke with the dog’s heartbroken owner who is now pleading with the public for information that could lead to the arrest of the gunman.
The kids were playing in the front yard of their Masontown home while their dog was wandering around just a few steps away in the backyard when she let out a loud yelp from a gunshot that came from somewhere beyond their yard.
“I screamed and was like ‘Oh my goodness, what happened?'”
Sara Stroder was sitting on her porch on Monday afternoon around 4:30 watching her children run around the yard when out of nowhere, her dog Cookie, let out that loud yelp.
When she ran toward the backyard to check on the 11-year-old pitbull-boxer mix, she found her collapsed in the driveway.
“I had my hand back there and was trying to count her [breaths], I could tell they were definitely getting slower and slower,” Stroeder said. “I felt her breath one last time, and I told him she was not breathing, so we pulled over, and she was definitely gone.”
At first, Stroder said she didn’t know what happened to her beloved dog; she just knew she needed to get her help and fast. It wasn’t until she got to the vet’s office she realized the dog had been shot.
“I know what happened, there was a bullet hole,” she recalled. “I looked and saw this little hole.”
Stroder immediately called state police and filed a report. She said investigators came to the neighborhood and talked with neighbors on the street, but no one heard or saw anything.
Meanwhile, Stroder and her husband have their own theory as to what happened and say they just want to know why.
Now, they’re left to worry about their children and other pets who play in their yard every day.
“Where she got shot, it wasn’t an accident, it just wasn’t,” Stroder said.
We have reached out to state police and they said they’re investigating.
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