OHMIDOG! : Army sergeant convicted of shooting dog

Army Special Forces Sgt. Justin Noyes Blehar won’t serve jail time for shooting his neighbor’s dog earlier this year.

Blehar, 32, was charged with felony animal abuse, but the jury convicted him of*misdemeanor animal abuse and shooting in a prohibited area*after a three-day jury trial in Stafford County Circuit Court in Virginia, Fredericksburg.com reported.

According to prosecutors, Blehar shot a brown Labrador retriever that came into his yard on*March 31. The dog lived with a family two houses away and repeatedly had gotten loose in the neighborhood.*On March 8, Blehar’s wife called animal control after the dogs confronted her in her yard, and Blehar asked animal control officers*if he could shoot the dog if it came back into his yard. He was told no, unless it was in*self-defense.

On March 31*the dogs came into his yard again. He chased them away once, but they*returned. Blehar said*Zu Zu, the more aggressive of the two dogs,*came at him and he felt threatened. He shot the dog twice with his Glock 9 mm weapon.

Prosecutors argued that Blehar was annoyed with the dog, not scared of it.

The jury recommended that Blehar pay a total of $1,146 in fines. The judge*withheld the imposition of the jury verdict at the request of defense attorney, who requested time to file additional motions, including one to overturn the jury decision.



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As being in the army i have shot dogs while over in the big sand box. We are trained to shoot dogs that are friendly or Aggressive over there bc they would put bombs in the dog and most of the dogs had rabies. So i understand where that sergent was coming from. If any dog came at me or my son in my yard i would shoot it to!

 

sorry, you're misinformed! this coward justin blehar did not shoot in self-defense, however, he shot the dog because he is a low-life! only cowards shoot defensless animals...he sucks!!!!!!!

 

he lives in a shitty place because here if a dog is in your yard off leash you have the right to shoot it

 

Sorry, but dogs are not "defenseless." Last I looked, they have very powerful teeth with which they can deliver life threatening (if not deadly) bites. I was having problems last summer with my neighbor leaving his bulldog mix loose. Three times it charged me & three times I defended myself. The last time I called AC & they told me the same thing - if I felt threatened, I could shoot the dog. If I feel threatened by any dog I'll shoot it & I don't blame that guy for doing what he had to do either. I say don't blame the man for defending himself, blame the stupid owner for letting his/her dog run loose & threaten people.

 

same here, aggressive loose dog in your yard = dead dog.

 

jenn first off u need to read the rules. Second Off U Do not know what he has and has not done before he shot the dog. 3have u ever heard off u will do what u where trained to do