A 59-year-old La Feria man is facing a charge of animal cruelty after Mercedes police say he shot a dog on Wednesday.
Michael Edward Barnes bonded out of the Hidalgo County Adult Detention Center on Friday on a $20,000 bond.
He was arrested after police responded to the La Casa Gardens at 350 Mesquite Lane at around 3:01 p.m. in reference to shots fired, according to a probable cause affidavit.
While an officer was heading to the location, dispatch informed him that a complainant said she saw a worker at the location shoot at a dog.
The officer, who began to patrol the area, made contact with several people who said they didn’t hear anything.
However, that officer then went to the main office of La Casa Gardens and made contact with Barnes who said he could no longer deal with the dog.
“The defendant stated that he had been having issues with a canine that would keep biting the kids, to which the city animal control could never catch the canine,” the affidavit stated. “The defendant stated that he could no longer deal with it due to the canine biting kids and today he finally got the canine to come out and popped the canine.”
According to police, Barnes said he shot the dog twice with a Glock 23 .40 caliber.
“The defendant stated the canine ran away and that it was bleeding,” the affidavit said.
Barnes said “everyone was happy” that “he got” the dog because it “had been harassing people and biting kids,” the document read.
The status of the dog isn’t immediately clear. The affidavit only said that animal control was trying to catch it and that “its front left leg was motionless and (it) couldn’t use it to walk.”
“As animal control is trying to capture the canine, the canine stood up and began walking north, underneath the house, which Sgt. A. Soto was able to observe the canine limping and its front leg was motionless and couldn’t use it to walk.”
