TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – A family is now offering a $5,000 reward for information after finding their dog dead on their front porch.
Stoli’s owner, Nicholas Belletto, says they are devastated and just want answers about how their friendly rescue dog could have ended up dead.
“It’s traumatic, my son is traumatized,” Belletto said. “Every time I close my eyes, this experience is popping up in my head.”
What started as a normal Sunday for the Belletto family turned into a day they will never forget.
Family seeking answers after beloved dog found shot on porch(Nicholas Belletto)
Belletto says their almost 11-year-old dog, Stoli, was outside like usual.
“She sniffs around the yard, we have two acres, but the backyard is fenced, the front yard is not fenced, but, you know, she goes out front and sniffs around the mailboxes, and does what dogs do,” Belletto said.
Later that afternoon, he went looking for her, but couldn’t find her anywhere around the home.
“She rarely wanders off and anybody that she wanders off a house or two down the street, you know, they know her because they see her all the time, so she was no threat to anyone.”
After he says he couldn’t find Stoli, Belletto got in his car and drove around the property.
When he returned home just a few minutes later, he found Stoli dead on the front porch.
“It was a world of emotions, I didn’t know what to do, how to feel,” Belletto said. “Of course, I broke down and cried, shouted and screamed.
Belletto says Stoli was lying in a puddle of blood with a gunshot wound. It’s something neighbors in this tight-knit community say they can’t understand.
“Most people, at least if that person lives on this street or lives nearby and has driven down the street, you’ve probably seen her before and she’s such a sweet dog,” neighbor Adeline Smith said. “I don’t understand why someone would do such a nasty thing.
“It’s just, like evil, why would someone do that,” another neighbor, Lila Smith, said.
Family seeking answers after beloved dog found shot on their porch(Nicholas Belletto)
Belletto says he’s grateful Stoli made it back home to the front porch before she died, but now the family just wants answers about what happened.
“It was a very difficult situation having to clean up the mess that was left behind, what’s left of her and then we buried her in the backyard,” Belletto said.
The Leon County Sheriff’s Office says it is actively investigating the case and is asking anyone with information about what happened to Stoli to contact LCSO.
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