(MyFoxBoston.com) -- A New Hampshire man who was arrested after shooting his neighbor's dog claims he was defending himself, his wife and his livestock.
Police arrested Andrew Freisinger, 43, on Wednesday night for shooting and injuring 1-year-old pit bull, Mya, on Sept. 6. Mya was shot through the jaw and left with a bullet hole that is healing on her left cheek and a portion of her tongue gone.
The dog's owner, Nichole Keezer, left her with Keezer's mother, Jane Murch, on the weekend of Sept. 6. On that Sunday afternoon, Mya got loose and escaped the house, Murch said, running next door to Freisinger's yard.
"She went over there to sniff around the chickens," Murch said. "He was waving his gun around, saying, 'I'm gonna shoot your dog, I'm gonna shoot your dog.'"
Mya ran playfully down the street and back through Freisinger's front yard, posing no threat, according to Murch.
"He looked at me and smirked and just pulled the trigger at her," Murch said. "I was probably 30 feet away from her."
But Freisinger's defense attorney, Jonathan Cohen, of Cohen and Winters, said his client pulled the trigger as a last resort to protect himself and his wife.
"This pit bull was closing on my client very quickly, and obviously pit bills can move very fast," Cohen said. "It was only that this dog came at my client on the front stoop of his own house that my client fired a single round at this animal."
Freisinger was also protecting his chickens, after the same dog attacked and killed two of them on separate occasions, Cohen said.
"The day before this happened, this dog came onto their property and killed one of their chickens," Cohen said, "and these chickens are their pets."
Keezer admits that Mya killed two chickens but claims they wandered into her yard while Mya was on a leash outside.
Cohen said Freisinger is a "law-abiding" citizen, a highly decorated veteran of the Air Force and a lover of animals. He and his wife are distraught over the incident, Cohen said.
"This happened solely because this owner could not control her animal," Cohen said.
A section of New Hampshire state law called, "Killing Dogs Legalized," protects a person who shoots a dog under the following circumstances:
"Any person may kill a dog that suddenly assaults the person while such person is peaceably walking or riding without the enclosure of its owner or keeper; and any person may kill a dog that is found out of the enclosure or immediate care of its owner or keeper worrying, wounding, or killing sheep, lambs, fowl, or other domestic animals."
But Epping detectives believe Freisinger and his animals were not in danger.
"If the dog was going after him and he had to protect himself or another person, or if a dog was going after one his animals or livestock and he had to protect them, that would make it legal," said Epping Police Capt. Jason Newman. "Through our investigation, we determined that that criteria was not met."
Freisinger, in jail Thursday morning, appeared by video conference in Brentwood Circuit Court on charges of animal cruelty, reckless conduct with a dangerous weapon and unauthorized use of a firearm. He was released from jail after posting bail, but ordered to release his firearms. Freisinger will return to court for a probable cause hearing on Sept. 24.
Keezer set up the following fundraising account to help cover the cost of Mya's veterinary bills: https://www.gofundme.com/myasfight.
Cox Media Group
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