Grayslake man charged with shooting runaway dog

A Grayslake-area man has been charged with one count of aggravated cruelty to animals after he shot and killed a runaway dog in a field near his home, authorities said Friday.

Elvin Dooley, 57, of the 24000 block of West Townline Road near Grayslake, also was charged with two counts of unlawful possession of weapons by a felon and one count of misdemeanor possession of a firearm without a firearm owners identification card.

Lake County Sheriff Mark Curran said Dooley was picked up on an arrest warrant, with a $10,000 bond attached to it, without incident Friday at his house in unincorporated Lake County. Dooley was held in the Lake County jail and is scheduled to appear at a bond hearing today.

Dooley was charged after an official from Save-A-Pet No-Kill Adoption Center, near Grayslake, saw him shoot the dog Tuesday as it ran across a field at Townline and Fairfield roads, police said.

Save-a-Pet's manager Dana Deutsch said she and other staff members had been trying to catch the 40-pound black terrier that was dropped off and left outside the center early that morning with a bag of food and a few toys.

The dog was not tethered when it was dropped off, she said.

When employees arrived and found the dog, it would run away whenever someone approached, she said.

Deutsch said she was searching for the canine about 2 p.m. and saw it run through a field at Townline and Fairfield roads.

As she pulled over to try and catch it, she heard two gun shots and saw a man with a rifle aiming at the black terrier across the field. He was shooting out the back door of a house.

Deutsch said a third shot rang out as she stopped her car, went to the house and started "pounding on the door and shouting at him that he was shooting my dog."

The man denied shooting at the pooch, Deutsch said, but she saw the animal bloody in the field.

She called police as she ran to it.

"There was blood everywhere. His neck was covered in blood," she said Thursday night.

Two Round Lake public works employees - who reportedly chased a coyote away from the canine earlier in the day - helped Deutsch carry the dog to a minivan.

She transferred the terrier to a nearby animal hospital, but it died en route.

Deutsch said she was happy when she learned about Dooley's arrest Friday.

"It doesn't bring the dog back, no, but I'm sure this will make a difference," she said. "Maybe someone will learn that it's not OK to do this and maybe this death will save the life of another animal. That's all we can hope for."

• Daily Herald staff writers Bob Susnjara, Tony Gordon and Russell Lissau contributed to this report.

Charged: Dog died on way to animal hospital

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<li><a href="/story/?id=354878">Dog killing near Grayslake stuns shelter staff <span class="date">[01/29/10]</span></a></li>

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