EL PASO, Tx., June 8, 2026: Last month, an innocent dog named Emma was shot in her backyard in the Cielo Vista Park Neighborhood. Emma was six years old and she belonged to Pablo Magallanes, who works at a local hospital. Pablo said he came home for lunch and found Emma dead in his back yard. He contacted the El Paso Police Department and the Animal Cruelty Unit, but both units failed to produce any suspects. They asked Magallanes if he had a camera in his backyard. He didn’t. All they were able to do was to recommend that he buy and install cameras in his backyard.
Magallanes said that previously, on December 18, 2024, an anonymous person had called the El Paso Animal Services claiming that Magallanes was not taking care of his dogs.
He said Animal Services visited his home, took photographs and they investigated, but the case was eventually dismissed. Magallanes was also able to produce receipts with expenditures on his pets which proved that he took care of his pets, took them to their veterinarian and groomed them on a regular basis.
Magallanes, his wife and his family moved to El Paso and rented a house in the 5300 block of the Cielo Vista Park Neighborhood in Winter 2024. His block is culturally diverse, with a mixture of Mexican American and White residents. Due to his young family, Magallanes’ five dogs spend most of their time in the backyard surrounded by high rock walls. The entrance to the backyard is through a gate on the side of the house and through a door on the back of the house.
On May 6th Magallanes posted the following message on El Paso, TX – Lost Dogs, Cats & Pets – PawBoost Community:
Hello, I need some advice:
My dog was shot dead yesterday while she was in the backyard. I called the police and four law enforcement officers went to my home to investigate. They gave me a case number and took my pet to a veterinary for a necropsy. Emma was shot near my left side gate. The blood prints on the floor show that she walked about 3 feet front then turned in circles and lastly walked to the grass where she died. My wife is afraid to go to the yard, and the other dogs have been unusually quiet today. Is there anything else I can do?
Magallanes said he posted on social media to see if he could get advice on how to handle this issue. The El Paso Police Department gave him a case number, and a detective’s name. He had Emma picked up so the Animal Cruelty Unit could investigate.
Magallanes has some suspicions of who might have shot his dog Emma.
In an interview with the El Paso Herald Post on May 8th, he told us that, “the place my dog was shot and the place she died could only be reached by any of my neighbors.” His yard and other yards near his home have high rock walls. Magallanes was also told by the investigating unit that there were reports of a car parked in front of his house on May 5th and officers told him that the person may have used a ladder to shoot his dog over the fence. This theory seems unbelievable because the rock walls around the house are high and why would someone go through all the trouble to set up a ladder and shoot a dog over the fence?
As of Tuesday, May 9th, Magallanes post had 3.3K thumbs up, 684 comments and 289 shares.
Magallanes said on May 6th that he called 911 at 6:32 p.m. when he got off work. He said he was first visited by a police officer, then by the Animal Cruelty Unit, and later by two supervisors who told him that without video evidence “it was going to be hard [to prove] unless they could get a bullet from Emma and track it.”
Magallanes said the officers took the details, but as of May 9th, he hadn’t heard back from them. He said he decided to post on Pawboost “hoping to raise awareness and obtain more information from the authorities.” He was also told by the authorities not to divulge their involvement “until they finished their investigation because it could work against him.”
Since then, Magallanes has been interviewed by several El Paso news stations, and people on social media have been asking him if there are new developments in the case., The news reporting to date has not included Chapter 177 (Firearms) section of the El Paso City Code in how it relates to Emma’s shooting.
According to the El Paso ordinance, it is generally unlawful to discharge pellet guns, BB guns, or air rifles within the city limits of El Paso, Texas.
City ordinances that prohibit the use of these weapons, and such actions can lead to misdemeanor charges, because in the case of Emma, the bullet crossed property lines. The ordinance was adopted in 1979 and last updated in 2017.
The ordinance states that it is “unlawful to discharge any firearms in the City; provided that this section shall not be construed to prohibit any officer of the law from discharging a firearm in the performance of his duty; nor to prohibit any citizen from discharging a firearm when lawfully defending his person or the person of another.” It adds that “it is also unlawful to discharge or use any air rifle, sling shot or pellet gun within the city limits.”
This is not the first time that a pet has been shot at this house.
According to Magallanes, someone in a recent online post told him that seven years ago, her dog had been shot as well. That person stated: “Fyi, my dog was shot too, I use(d) to live in that house. My dog barked a lot, and I guess they were disturbed. I did talk to the back neighbor. He is a firefighter, they were always at home, but it is hard to believe they never hear or see nothing.” The previous tenant’s dog didn’t die like Emma, but its owner wants justice for the shooting of her dog as well.
Recently, Magallanes said that one of his neighbors told his wife that their dogs didn’t let him sleep. He said his wife is now hesitant to go into her backyard and run into that neighbor. Magallanes said that in addition to that incident, his dogs in the backyard are also quiet, having experienced the trauma of Emma’s death.
According to PetMD, “dogs experience emotional and physical trauma which, “can lead to anxiety, fear, and even Canine Post-Traumatic Disorder (PTSD).”
Magallanes shared that Emma “was shot seven feet from the fence; then she walked towards the gate about three feet; then in pain she walked in circles; then she walked towards the back door trying to get to the grass, but she didn’t make it.”
The question that remains is whether any issues with Magallanes’ pets could have been resolved without shooting Emma?
One person on the Pawboost thread who goes by “Chiquita Ba Nana” asked Magallanes “if your dogs are barkers, it might have been a neighbor that was bothered by it.” “Have you had anyone harass you or complain to you about your dogs before,” they asked. Magallanes confirmed that someone previously complained about his dogs, but as stated above, charges were dismissed.
Most everyone on the thread who commented stated it was wrong to shoot Emma, aside from the occasional anonymous jokesters who think the issue was something to laugh at. Another person on the thread, Arely Venegas, posted in a response to Chiquita Ba Nana and stated: “Chiquita Ba Nana still no excuse to kill a dog that was in their home perimeter.” “I would understand if the dog went into their yard it was not supposed to,” she added.
Magallanes, who has rescued and rehomed dogs in the past, said the person who shot his dog did not have to resort to shooting her. He feels they could have talked about the issues before resorting to violence against his innocent pet.
Emma’s owner is concerned that the police department’s response to date has been advising him to install security cameras in his backyard. He also feels that his city representative should be asking questions of the police department because two pets have been shot be someone at the same house where Emma was killed. Someone has killed to pets in an apparent violation of city ordinances prohibiting the use of guns within the city limits.
On May 23rd, therealfitfamelpaso posted:
“Justice for Emma. Authorities are searching for the person(s) responsible for shooting and killing six-year-old chihuahua Emma with a pellet gun near 9300 W.H. Burges (close to Montwood and Viscount.) The incident is believed to have occurred between 2:50 P.M. on May 4th and 12:30 A.M. on May 5th.
If you have information regarding this case, call @crimestoppersofelpaso at (915)566-8477 or submit a tip online at cselpaso.org. You will remain anonymous… and if your tip leads to an arrest, you may qualify for a cash reward.”
Screenshot from Crimestoppers Instagram Account, June 8, 2026
Anyone with information about Emma’s shooting should contact Crime Stopper, or the El Paso Police Department with the information.
Cover picture of Emma, courtesy of Pablo Magallanes.
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