MARIE JOSEPH – The RCMP is investigating the shooting death of a dog on Jan. 7 in the Eastern Shore community of Marie Joseph, as its bereaved owners continue to receive hundreds of expressions of sympathy from across Canada and around the world.
“We were looking at the signatures and some were from Italy and Germany,” Macy Delorey told The Journal in an interview last week after she and her husband Michael Rose posted a petition on change.org urging local police to move quickly on the matter.
“Our beloved dog Buster was shot,” the plea began. “This poor dog was only four, and his life was selfishly cut short… We will leave it up to the police, which is the proper thing to do… Please, if you’re an animal lover, I beg you to share this as much as you can as often as you can. Please help my family get justice for our dog, please don’t let another person go through this horrific pain, or another dog. No dog deserves this.”
Since then, more than 5,000 people have signed the petition, accompanied by comments such as, “I believe anyone who harms, neglects, abuses, or kill[s] an animal should be put in jail,” and “Whoever did this should be publicly shamed and thrown in jail.”
According to an RCMP statement issued on Jan. 13, “Police received a complaint of a dog having been shot in the community of Marie Joseph in Guysborough County [having] learned that the dog had been outside on the evening of Jan. 7. The owner of the dog, who was not home at the time, received a call from a neighbour advising that the dog had been shot and succumbed to his injuries. The following day, the matter was reported to police.”
Delorey said, on Jan. 7, “We were stuck in Antigonish at a friend’s house” during a snowstorm “because the roads were not good to drive. That night Buster had got off his clip. A neighbor heard the shot. Buster then ran home. The neighbour got in her car and followed him right to our doorstep and tried to comfort him. He made it home, but he was not going to make [it] through the night. So, the neighbour called my husband’s father who came over.”
Delorey said her father-in-law used a firearm to put but Buster out of his misery. “We got home on [Jan. 8] and called the police.”
Delorey, who has two children and another on the way, called the experience devastating. Despite the outpouring of support, she’s received both online and in person, she said she no longer feels safe in the community. “Mike is a fisherman from the area originally,” she said. “I’ve mostly just been a stay-at-home mom. We had a small hobby farm – three sheep, three geese, six ducks, 14 bunnies – with hopes of opening to the public this spring. But we’re not moving forward with this now. We do not plan to stay in the area.”
She added: “As far as updates from police, we’re waiting for people to come forward with information they have.”
According to the police statement, “Guysborough County District RCMP has been investigating this incident and continues to gather information and evidence. Police are now asking that anyone with information on this incident, who was in the areas of Hwy. 7 or Bakers Rd. in Marie Joseph, or who heard gun shots between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on January 7 in the areas of Hwy. 7 or Bakers Rd. in Marie Joseph, contact them at 902-522-2200. Should you wish to remain anonymous call Nova Scotia Crime Stoppers toll free at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477), submit a secure web tip at www.crimestoppers.ns.ca, or use the P3 Tips App.”
