A family dog was shot and had to be put down after it slipped out of a chain-link fence in Tarpon Springs.
Radar, an adopted 1-year-old German Shepherd mix escaped from his fenced in backyard Thursday night at 1100 E. Lime St.
Not long after the dog's escape, Radar's owner, Jennifer Grove, heard a single gunshot.
A neighbor one block away found him in desperate need of help the next day.
"You could tell he was in distress, he was whimpering," Officer Brittney Rose of Tarpon Springs Police Department said.
Radar was taken to the animal hospital, and the family eventually had to make the decision to put the dog down.
"Dogs get out all the time and you don't expect to find them shot," Grove said.
X-rays revealed someone had shot Radar in the neck, severing his spinal cord.
"Somebody's sick. I don't know who could look at his face and pull the trigger, it just, it doesn't make sense," Grove said. We just want to know who did it and we want them convicted."
Police are investigating the incident, and neighbors believe someone may have shot Radar mistaking him for a coyote, often seen in the nature preserve close to where he was found.
"Nothing is going to replace Radar," Grove said.
The Grove family is offering a $300 reward for any information leading to an arrest. Anyone with information is asked to call Tarpon Springs Police Department Detective Division at (727) 938-2849.
