charge thieves w/ dog's death?

[Smittie61984]

If the dog was killed by a snake bite or even an aortic dissection due to the stress of running then I wouldn't put the perp at fault. If they find trauma on the dog that can be attributed to the perp then nail him.

As for charging them the same thing as assaulting a police officer (or even one step down) I can't agree with. I love dogs more than anything (especially humans), but I would look at a police dog as a peice of government property more than an officer.

Ideally the home owner would have been home and able to shoot the suspect dead right there (well after a half hour or so of bleeding through their stomach from a gut shot).