A 40-year-old Cobb County man is accused of shooting and killing his two dogs while at a neighbor’s house.

Corey Demond Smith, of Austell, has been charged with two counts of aggravated cruelty to animals, both felonies, for the Christmas Day shootings, according to an arrest warrant.

Smith was planning to move from his mother’s home and asked a neighbor to temporarily care for his two pit bulls, that neighbor, Steven Shackleford, said by phone Tuesday night. Shackleford said he and Smith were longtime friends and he agreed to take the dogs.

But later on, Smith apparently changed his mind, according to Shackleford.

“He couldn’t see anyone else raising his dogs,” Shackleford said.

When Smith allegedly said he was going to commit a murder, Shackleford said he called police in fear for his life. Minutes later, Smith shot both dogs, killing them both.

As of late Tuesday, Smith had not been booked into the Cobb County jail, where he is expected to be held on $10,000 bond, the warrant states.

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