On Saturday, October 24th, 2015, Tucker was unlawfully shot by Pastor David Murphy of the Apostolic Bible Church of Niles. Tucker was a beautifully energetic black lab puppy that enjoyed spending his days playing on the 80+ acre farmstead that he called home. On Saturday, along with the family German Shepherd, Heidi, Tucker got loose and the two went on an adventure. After realizing that Tucker was gone and canvassing the family stead via ATV, Tuckers owner Kim proceeded to look for him in a nearby neighborhood in her car. It was during this time that she heard 4 gunshots in rapid succession (3 shots, a dog yelping, and then a 4th).

When asked about the gunshots, multiple neighbors directed Kim to Pastor Murphy’s home. Three separate times the Pastor’s wife, Karen, sought to mislead Kim by directing her away from their property. It was after talking to the Murphy’s next door neighbor that Kim learned that David Murphy had a history of shooting dogs. The next door neighbor told Kim of a time that Mr. Murphy shot his dog, Zeus, right in front of his children. Luckily Zeus survived.

After returning home and again searching her property and the adjoining neighbors’ properties Kim found Tucker. Unable to move on his own, Kim grabbed Tucker and drove 45 minutes to the nearest emergency animal clinic where it was found that a bullet had shattered Tucker’s vertebrae and severed his spinal cord. He was paralyzed. Kim was left to make the gut wrenching decision to humanely euthanized Tucker. He was only 15 months old.

After bringing Tucker back home Kim went to confront the Pastor and his wife. It was then that David Murphy admitted to shooting Tucker. He stated that he shot above the dogs in an effort to scare them away from his chickens. When asked why he would shoot a dog David Murphy stated that he was told that a large German Shepherd had tried to get his chickens last time he was out of town. He then asked Kim if she were finished.

Tucker had grown up on a farm and was accustomed to all kinds of animals from ducks and chickens to horses. He had never shown any aggression towards other animals. Where Tucker’s body had been found was far away from the Murphy’s property. The fact that one of the bullets left Tucker paralyzed only leaves two plausible explanations. A) Tucker was on the Murphy’s property and in an effort to hide his wrongdoing the Pastor moved Tucker’s body, or B) the Pastor shot Tucker off of his property far away from his chickens.

According to Ohio Rev. Code § 955.28 it is only permissible to shot or kill a dog that is chasing or injuring livestock. The Pastor’s chickens are protected by a 4ft fence. Hunting down a dog that is suspected of injuring livestock is unlawful. In a recent news interview the Pastor claimed that the dogs had been acting aggressively towards his chickens. Under the law the Pastor would have had to have caught the dogs in the act of attempting to harm his chickens, or the dogs would have had to present a clear and imminent threat to his chickens.

What we ask is that David Murphy is held accountable for his unlawful acts to the fullest extent of the law. He has shot at least one other dog making this act habitual. David Murphy is not only a danger to community pets but the community at large. We ask that you please help us get ‪#‎JusticeForTucker.

We also ask that our legislators change the law so that this never happens again. That the law be more specific as to the circumstances in which an individual can take lethal action, rather than leaving it up to personal interpretation and judgment as the current law allows. Tucker had not attempted to get through the barrier that Pastor Murphy had erected to keep his chickens safe therefore he was not an immediate threat. In a recent T.V. interview, Pastor Murphy claimed that Tucker had been looking at his chickens in a menacing manner, but we do not believe that is enough to justify shooting an animal. We ask that unlawful shootings like this, where there is not enough evidence to justify the shooting of a dog (i.e. chicken coop untouched and intact, no signs that the dog had tried to attack the chickens, etc.), be treated as felony rather than a misdemeanor. We have laws in place to protect Ohioans from such dangers and we ask that our elected officials protect ALL Ohioans, including those with 4 legs.