A Connecticut woman whose dogs went missing in November after escaping over her property's fence says she believes they were killed by a hunter.
Erin Caviola's two 10-year-old German Shepherds, Cimo and Lieben, went missing from her home in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Caviola suspects that her dogs were shot dead, beheaded and skinned by a hunter from Putnam County.
The morning the dogs went missing Caviola noticed that when she let them outside they found part of the fence around her property had been pulled down.
The Department of Energy & Environmental Protection said they believe a bear damaged the fence, and Caviola says she believes that her dogs jumped over the fence.
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Caviola and her family searched for her dogs for weeks and even received assistance from her community.
After nearly a month of searching for the pets, a Good Samaritan contacted Caviola and sent a photo of what appeared to be her dogs' bodies.
"The pictures that we got was them posed on the ground, laying there, and you could clearly see that they both had been shot in the chest," Caviola told FOX 5 NY.
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The Department of Energy & Environmental Protection arrested the hunter, Mike Konschak.
Caviola says all she would like is justice and closure, starting a petition to have Konschak face animal cruelty charges and have his hunting license revoked.
"When you put an animal to sleep, you can comfort them," Caviola said. "This was a little different. It's the act of them being shot and killed but the act of what happened to them after is very concerning to us."
Konschak has thus far been charged with forgery, evidence tampering and violations of hunting regulations, according to Caviola. He is scheduled for a court hearing on Wednesday.
Caviola and her family have a few remains from Cimo and Lieben buried in their backyard.
"We were hoping to have many more memories from them," Caviola said.
