Army Vet Finds Note from 'Coward' and Confirms His Dog Is Never Coming Back
An Army veteran found his missing dog’s collar along with a sickening note that confirmed he would never see his beloved canine ever again.
Chad Stricker of Mississippi said Dec. 12 on Facebook that a search to find his missing dog turned up nothing, but a note in his mailbox confirmed the gut-wrenching truth.
“I’m sorry to inform you that your dog was shot and killed Saturday night while digging through my garbage,” the note read. “It did not suffer and I did not take pleasure in killing it.”
“There is a county leash law which you should abide by so that I do not have to kill any more of your pets.”
In addition to the letter, there was another stomach-turning item: his missing dog’s collar.
Stricker used his Facebook post to reinforce how close he was to his dog, Nymeria, and addressed it to “the coward who shot my girl.”
According to the Biloxi Sun Herald, Nymeria was the subject of a nearly weeklong search in rural Pearl River County. The pet, a wolf-dog hybrid, escaped from Stricker’s 10-acre property one night.
Although the hybrid animals have a reputation for aggressive and unpredictable behavior, Stricker says his dog was as gentle as a lamb.
Knowing his dog’s size and appearance could cause alarm in the rural community, he made sure to fit her with an oversized collar and tag that made it clear she was a pet and not a wild animal.
“We did that so if anyone ever saw her, there’s no mistaking she was someone’s dog,” Stricker told the Sun Herald.
Although the Army veteran made an appeal to law enforcement, the sheriff’s department confirmed there was nothing it could do.
In the rural community, property owners reserve the right to confront animals on their own land.
Stricker knows he isn’t ever going to see Nymeria play again, but he isn’t giving up his search.
The heartbroken pet owner issued a desperate plea to get his dog’s body back for a proper burial.
“I’ve been looking for buzzards and vultures. I’ve asked on social media for whoever did it to leave her body at my driveway or even tell me where they dumped it,” he said.
While there’s no telling what happened in Nymeria’s final moments, using a leash law to justify killing someone’s pet has angered many who commented on Stricker’s post.
Many expressed grief over the fact that a beautiful dog lost her life for simply digging through the garbage for an easy snack, while some others even offered advice for tracking down the note’s author.
It’s unclear if Stricker will ever find the neighbor who shot his dog or if he will even get to bury his beloved pet.
“I pray one day you come to realize what you have done,” his message to his dog’s killer read, “and teach those in your household to be better.”
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