Humane Society offers rewards in animal shootings

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(KSL News) The Humane Society of Utah wants justice for two dogs that were killed in the last week.

Bert was a 1-year-old golden lab shot and killed in his own yard in West Jordan. A day later, a 13-week-old puppy was shot to death inside a kennel in his yard.

The Humane Society is offering a $3,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for each shooting.

"People who engage in such behaviors are obviously both sick and angry, and they should not be allowed to get away with what they've done because their victims were ‘only dogs,'" says Humane Society of Utah Executive Director Gene Baierschmidt. "Taking pleasure or satisfaction in the mutilation or killing of any being less competent than the aggressor to defend itself is indefensible. Those dogs didn't have knives or guns. They were somebody's pets, and they had learned to trust people. There was absolutely no excuse for what was done to any of them. And the next time one of these sickos gets upset, he may take it out on a child, a woman, or some other person who is as incapable of protecting him- or herself as those dogs were."

Anyone with information on the shootings is urged to contact police and the Humane Society of Utah at 261-2919.