A District family is mourning the loss of their dog Wednesday night. Someone shot and killed the Lab mix while playing in his backyard along B Street SE.
Sandra Benson is heartbroken, saying: "I really can't understand why someone would shoot my dog."
Friday night Benson left home with family to celebrate her birthday at a nearby restaurant. She left her dog, a four-year-old mixed breed named Bear, with her 17-year-old daughter. "I went out and told him, 'Mama will be back.' Told him I loved him and I went out to celebrate my birthday," she says.
Around nine o'clock her daughter let Bear out so he could go to the bathroom. He was out in their fenced in yard just a few minutes when Benson's daughter heard barking and then a gunshot.
Someone walked by and at close range shot Bear in the neck.
"Anyone who would do this to a dog would also do this to a human. It's not just someone who is out for kicks on a Friday night. It's someone with violent tendencies," said Scott Giacoppo with the Washington Humane Society.
The Washington Humane Society is offering a $1,000 reward. The crime is a felony and the person responsible could spend five years in prison if convicted.
"They really took someone special from the family," Benson said. "He was a good dog."