A hunter is facing charges for killing two dogs that got away from their owner in Belmont County, Ohio.
WTOV reported that owner Pete Byers was getting ready to take the dogs, Bella and Emmy, with him on a work trip to Pittsburgh. He told the TV station that he turned around to lock a gate, and the dogs disappeared.
“It’s the opening day of gun season, so I’m like dying inside. I’m scared to death,” Byers said.
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After searching for hours with the help of friends and neighbors, Byers told WTOV that hunters reported hearing gunshots and a dog's yelp.
Byers claimed a trail of tracks led to the tree stand of 59-year-old Michael Chedester, whom he confronted.
"I asked him, did you kill my dogs, man? I want to know so I can bury them. Meanwhile, he keeps eyeing this new brush pile that's new and fresh," Byers told WTOV. "Then he kind of looks down his nose at me and says, 'Yeah, I killed your dogs. You want me to buy you two new ones? I'll buy you two new dogs.'"
Byers posted the following message to Chedester on Facebook:
"I would like to thank Mike Chedester of St. Clairsville, for murdering the only things in this world which I had left to love. I have had really tough time with life since Kat left me this July. Those dogs he killed where my best friends, my buddys , my foot warmers and my companions. I loved those dogs with all my heart. I don't know how you didn't hear me screaming for them from every hilltop in the valley, especially when you where 300 yards from one place I yelled. I think worst of all Mike, you kept their collars as a trophy."
According to prosecutors, Chedester will be charged with two felony charges of prohibitions concerning companion animals. He faces a maximum sentence of one year in prison on each count, or 24 months consecutively, if convicted.
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