MEMPHIS, TN (abc24.com) - The owners of a south Memphis car dealership want to know why their guard dog was shot and killed inside their fenced off lot.
Evey, a black lab mix, was simply being a dog by warning a potential intruder to stay off the grounds of Cooper Auto Sales on Elvis Presley. That's when the passerby shot Evey from the other side of the fence.
Her owners are upset, sad, and concerned over what the gunman might do in the future; they’re hoping a person won’t be his next target.
Evey’s pointless death left more than here human owners behind. Tuesday night a lonely dog named Elvis howled into the night, mourning his murdered friend with the other remaining dogs, Sam and Lucky.
“I’m worried about the guy running around with a gun who would kill an innocent animal just like that,” said Sam Young, the manager of Cooper Auto Sales.
The entire incident was caught on surveillance video.
“There he comes,” said Young, narrating the video, “there’s the other dog. He’s going to stop in front of that silver car, turn towards the dog, let a couple cars pass - then you see a flash of light, a pop, then he keeps on walking.”
After the flash, Evey was dead.
“I was sick,” said Charles Robinson, “she was a little, bitty puppy.” Robinson who works at Cooper Auto Sales, took care of the dogs daily.
Time lapse video showed Elvis howling in the same spot for almost an hour after Evey was shot.
“She was a great dog,” Young told abc24.com, “she was the most energetic, upbeat, happy dog. It just sucks that she is gone.”
Evey’s death could involve CrimeStoppers of Memphis and Shelby County. Its Executive Director, E.W. Chapman, said, “We agreed we would pay out $1,000 per incident for any arrest made for dog fighting or aggravated animal cruelty.”
“I want the guy to be caught,” Young said, “I mean—I miss the dog.”
Chapman believes any money paid out to capture animal abusers, is well spent. “It truly makes Memphis look like a third world country,” he said.
That’s a sentiment echoed by those who loved Evey.
“The dog was barking at him,” said Young, “So what. If someone is arguing with him, is he just going to shoot them, too?”
Elvis and Lucky will still roam the grounds at Cooper Auto Sale, behind a locked fence, after closing. Their owners believe they benefit by running free.
For those who might think too much is being made of Evey’s death, Young said, “She was just a South Memphis mutt, but she’s our south Memphis mutt.”
