EL PASO, TEXAS (KFOX14/CBS4) — An El Paso man is seeking answers after he found one of his chihuahuas shot dead in his backyard with a pellet gun, leaving his family shaken and police investigating.
Fernando Magallanes said he discovered his dog, Emma, had been shot when he returned home from his overnight job at a local hospital.
Magallanes said he works the night shift and came home last week during his lunch break, around 3 a.m., and found Emma dead in the backyard of his home near Cielo Vista Mall in East El Paso
Fernando Magallanes is a dog lover. He said he used to take strays to the vet and distribute them to caring owners when he lived in Juarez. Now he has 7 dogs. Before Emma was brutally murdered by a senseless individual he had 8. (Fernando Magallanes)
“So I was working. I work at a hospital here, nightshift. And when I went out for my lunch around 3 a.m., I just came home, ate dinner, and right before I left, I always check on my dogs to see if they have water or if they need food,” Magallanes said.
Magallanes said he went into the yard and noticed blood and what appeared to be a wound.
“I went straight to the yard, and then I tried to clean the blood on the side of the hip, and then I saw like a hole. So I, I took a couple of pictures, I made a quick video, and I called 911,” he said.
Magallanes said a necropsy, an animal autopsy, later determined Emma had been shot with a pellet gun.
“The necropsy came back, it was a pellet gun. Uh, there’s not really a way to track it, and they’re doing the investigation,” he said.
Magallanes said he has since filed a police report with the El Paso Police Department.
KFOX14/CBS4 has obtained a copy of that policy report, where investigators confirm an investigation into the incident has been opened.
However, police did not provide any further details on the incident or on the suspect.
Meanwhile, for Magallanes, the shooting has left him worried not only for his pets but also for his children.
“I have kids, and they shot in on my yard. It was an open fire in my backyard. What if one of my kids was outside? This is something that we cannot just let pass,” Magallanes said.
Magallanes described the emotional toll in the immediate aftermath.
“The first day, I was not thinking clearly,” he said. “I came in, and I was like, well, I started crying.”
He also appealed directly to whoever shot his dog.
Emma was found shot and killed with a pellet gun at 3 am on Wednesday May 6th, in her own backyard in the Cielo Vista neighborhood. (Fernando Magallanes)
“Well, whoever shot Emma, I don’t know what she did to to make you feel like that,” Magallanes said.
Magallanes encouraged other pet owners to take extra precautions at home.
“Make sure that you have your property secure. Yeah. So we thought we were secure in our property. And I just find out that we’re, we’re not. So make sure to try to have some, some sort of surveillance cameras and and take a good look at your dogs every day. Cause you’ll never know,” he said.
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