HASTINGS, Mich. - A Barry County woman is looking for answers after her nine-year-old chihuahua Hershey was killed in her backyard.
Hastings police say it happened on July 19 around 8:00 p.m. The dog’s owner, Sharon Penny, says she let Hershey outside on his tie-out, and when she came back out a few minutes later the dog was dead from an injury to his head.
What exactly was used, police say, isn't clear. Some theories include a pellet gun or even a sling shot.
Penny says Hershey weighed less than seven pounds and didn’t stand but eight inches off the ground. She says it’s hard to believe it was some kind of accident, because whoever did it had to be in close range. “I would never imagine I would have somebody kill my dog," she said. "That was the one thing I couldn’t protect him from."
Penny says she moved into the house on High Street just 10 days before Hershey was killed.
“(Police) thought maybe I had lived here for a while and someone was unhappy that Hershey was barking and aggravating them," she said, "and the policeman's jaw dropped when I said I only lived here for 10 days."
Hershey meant the world to Sharon. “You get attached to them. You treat them and raise them as a child; you love them and they love you back. A dog's love is unquestioning, and its always there for you.”
Penny just wants whoever is responsible to come forward. “I want them to be accountable. I don’t hate them for what they did but I’m hurt. They killed something that was living that felt pain and gave love and he was my baby."
Police say they have followed up on a few leads, but they're asking anyone with information to call the Hastings Police Department at 269-945-5744
Police Chief Jeff Pratt says once the officers heard Sharon's story, they actually started a fund among themselves to raise money to get Penny a new dog.
