Police: NJ Man Arrested After Dog Fatally Shot In Head – No to Animal cruelty

MAPLE SHADE, NJ — A Burlington District man has been captured after lethally shooting a dog that belonged to a veteran with PTSD and depression, authorities declared.

William D. Stroemel, A.K.A. “Wild Willie,” has been captured and charged in the deadly shooting of Toby, a poodle who got away from his neighbour’s patio a week ago, as per authorities.

Toby got away from his owner’s backyard in Maple Shade and made his way down the road, where authorities said Stroemel shot him with an air rifle. Stroemel then gave the gun to an associate and approached him to hold it for him, as indicated by authorities. Police don’t believe Toby was on Stroemel’s property when he shot him.

Stroemel, 64 of Maple Shade, was captured and accused of weapons offences on Monday, Sept. 23, after police found a .22 calibre pistol during the execution of a search warrant at his home. Extra charges were recorded after a necropsy connected a pellet that was removed from Toby’s head to Stroemel’s air rifle, as indicated by Burlington Region Examiner Scott Coffina and Maple Shade Township Police Boss Christopher Fletcher

He has been accused of second-degree unlawful ownership of a weapon, two counts of second-degree ownership of a weapon for an unlawful reason, third-degree animal cruelty, third-degree certain people not to have guns, fourth-degree obstructing apprehension/concealing proof and fourth-degree unlawful ownership of a weapon.

The examination started after the Cook Family contacted Maple Shade police at about 2:11 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 18. The family said the dog had been harmed at some point between 5:30 p.m. what’s more, 6:30 p.m. the past night.

After a neighbour alarmed the family that the dog had been crying in agony, they took him to the vet, police said. An assessment by a veterinarian revealed that he had been shot in the head. Toby was euthanized a day after being shot.

“Toby was the sweetest little dog on the world,” Golden Cook wrote in a GoFundMe present that raised $2,665 on assistance her granddad. “There are no words to describe how much he meant to our family. I’m starting this fund to help with some medical expenses they incurred trying to save him.”

Stroemel, a heavy equipment operator, is in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly awaiting a detention hearing in Superior Court.