Owner of Slain Pit Bull Says Dog’s Death Was Avoidable

Sunday morning started out normally for Severn resident Monica Moye as she prepared for church. All that changed when she ran outside in her morning robe and witnessed her husband holding her dog that had just been shot.

“There was so much blood,” Moye said.

Moye, the owner of the slain pit bull from , said the worst part about the event was that it could have been avoided.

Moye’s 4-year-old dog, Kayne, was shot and killed after he fought with another pit bull named Gyno. According to Moye, Gyno’s owner then came to the scene and shot her dog with a semi-automatic handgun.

Police  reported that a 32-year-old man shot Kayne after the two dogs continued to fight. However, Moye claimed the gun was fired prematurely.

“[The man] didn’t make an effort whatsoever [to break up the fighting dogs],” said Moye, whose 18-year-old daughter was walking Kayne Sunday morning.

Patch attempted to contact Gyno’s owners but they did not respond.

Moye said Animal Control officers did not arrive quickly, forcing her husband, Freddy, to drive the wounded animal to the Anne Arundel Veterinary Emergency Clinic in Annapolis.

Moye said the bullet struck Kayne in the upper part of his torso and pierced his lung. “Our dog died on the way to the vet,” she said.

Kayne’s owner also gave her perspective as to what happened Sunday morning.

According to Moye, her 18-year-old daughter was walking Kayne when they came across another pit bull named Gyno that was being walked by a 10-year-old girl without a leash. Moye’s daughter claimed that Gyno began to run at her and Kayne. Afraid, Moye's daughter admitted to letting Kayne off his leash and the two dogs began to fight.

At that point, the 10-year-old went to contact her parents. The alleged shooter then arrived on the scene and shot Kayne.

“[My daughter] said it was pretty quick,” Moye said.

Sunday’s fight wasn’t the first time Kayne and Gyno crossed paths, and Moye said the two pit bulls fought once before. Only that time, Gyno’s owner shot his gun in the air to scare the dogs instead of directly at one of them, according to Moye.

"It bothered me when he did that,” Moye said. “We have kids in the neighborhood.”

No charges have been filed by police and the investigation is “very active” according to police spokesman Justin Mulcahy.

State’s Attorney’s Office spokeswoman Kristin Fleckenstein said the office had not been notified of charges from Sunday’s incident. She also said the office considers many different factors surrounding the firing of a weapon.

“We determine whether the firing of the handgun falls under the category of a crime,” she said. “Lots of different factors and sets of circumstances must come into play.”

Fleckenstein said it is a crime to fire a weapon within 100 yards of an occupied structure, but additional investigations are necessary to determine whether a crime took place for each specific incident.