State v. Spano

The opinion of the court was delivered by

CARCHMAN, J.A.D.

While deer hunting during the early evening of January 28, 1998, defendant Joseph Spano shot and killed two dogs — a golden retriever mix and an Australian shepherd mix. The two dogs were observed by defendant as they were standing over a deer carcass approximately 118 feet away. Defendant asserted that the shepherd aggressively began running toward him and in an act of self-defense, he shot the dog, apparently wounding him. He then looked in the direction of the retriever and observed the dog growling; whereupon, he shot that dog as…