[JohnR]

I think the whole thing was set up by the Eastern Mass conspiracy of which the collie was a card carrying member!

hehehehe

From the Herald: www2.bostonherald.com/news/local_regional/dog08302001.htm

Thursday, August 30, 2001

UXBRIDGE - When a Millville woman panicked as an unleashed 10-year-old border collie mixed-breed greeted her at the West Hill Dam, her husband drew a .38-caliber handgun and shot the dog in the mouth, police said yesterday.

``I thought it was a starter pistol. I couldn't believe it happened so, incredulously, I asked the guy several times, `Did you shoot my dog?' '' said Dave Mitchell, 46, who held a recovering but shivering Coco by the leash at the Uxbridge Animal Hospital yesterday. ``He's just a tired old mutt, a scaredy cat, who would never attack anyone. He's lucky to be alive.''

Francis Daignault, 63, will be summonsed today to the U.S. Federal Court in Worcester on charges of carrying a firearm on federal property, an offense punishable by a fine of $50 to $500, and up to six months in jail, according to the park manager, Dave Hebert. Mitchell, of Mendon, will be fined $25 for walking an unleashed dog.

``If he didn't have a gun, this wouldn't have happened and if the dog was leashed, this wouldn't have happened,'' said Uxbridge police Sgt. Scott Freitas. ``The major issue is that we don't want people walking around the park with a firearm.''

The shooting happened about 5 p.m. Tuesday just after Coco and a friend's dog emerged from a swim and, unleashed, trotted toward Daignault and his wife, Joyce, as the couple walked the trail.

``The dogs got 20 feet from them and the woman started screaming,'' Mitchell said. ``Her husband kicked Coco, and Coco went up on his hind legs. The guy pulled out a gun and shot him right in the mouth.''

Daignault, who didn't return calls from the Herald, reportedly has said several of his children have been bitten by unleashed dogs, and that he would do the same thing again.

``They ran at us headlong for about 50 yards. We were being attacked by the two animals,'' Daignault told the MetroWest Daily News.

Hebert and Freitas said Daignault likely would not face charges of shooting an animal.

``His argument is going to be self-defense,'' Freitas said.

Coco underwent surgery for wounds resulting from the bullet entering his mouth and exiting his neck and is scheduled to be released today.

``He's the best friend I've got,'' said Mitchell. ``Coco is as important to me as a person. Thank God he's alive.''