East Quogue Couple Wants to Know Who Shot Their Dog

An East Quogue couple is offering a reward to find out who shot one of their dogs with a pellet gun on January 14.

According to Jim Tyte, of West Side Avenue, during a downpour that Tuesday his two dogs knocked the latch of his porch door open and got out. His wife, Susan, had not realized they escaped, but a half hour later when he was arriving home around 5 p.m., he spotted the dogs on his block. “They were running down the farm side of the road,” he said. “They saw my truck and they just followed the truck into the driveway.” However, while they are usually inseparable, one dog lagged behind.

The male dog, 18 months old, was limping. He had blood on his side and was coughing up blood, Tyte said. “We had to get him professional attention.”

The Tytes brought their dog to an emergency veterinary clinic in Riverhead. Tyte said the vet X-rayed the dog and confirmed he was shot by a pellet. The dog had to have a lung removed, Tyte added. “He’s gonna be on the mend for three or four weeks.”

Tyte could not imagine what would have led someone to shoot at his dog, or who would have done it. “Everybody who lives on this street has seen me walking these dogs, so they know where they came from,” he said. “It’s a really friendly neighborhood. I’m surprised it happened here; it came out of nowhere.”

He said his dogs are not aggressive–except maybe for barking at wild turkeys.

“We’d love to find out why somebody had the need to shoot our dog,” Tyte said. “What were they doing so bad that you had to shoot them?”

The Tytes have been stapling posters around the hamlet with a photo of their dog offering a reward. “Which one of our neighbors shot out dog?” the poster reads, including a phone number and the stipulation that the caller’s identity will be protected.

Call 631-653-4880 with information.