Man Faces Weapons and Animal Cruelty Charges Following Incident in Norman County
Shelly, MN — One man is facing animal cruelty and weapons charges following a disturbing incident in Norman County earlier this summer. On July 1st, the Norman County Sheriff’s Office responded to the report of an individual shooting their dog at 214 McKinley Ave in Shelly. Officers spoke with 45-year-old Patrick Danial Anderson of Fargo, who admitted to shooting the dog with AR-15 and dragging it to the nearby bank of the creek behind the residence. Anderson fired one shot at the dog, which witnesses say whimpered and cried for 10 minutes before succumbing to the gunshot. The incident also happened within the presence of two neighbor children under the age of 18. According to court documents, Anderson shot the dog because they were moving and didn’t want to leave it in a cage and also couldn’t transport the dog because it was too aggressive.
However, Anderson also admitted that this was not their first attempt to kill the dog, noting they tried “two or three different methods” beforehand. Those methods included feeding the dog chocolate and poison, but nether attempts seemed to affect the animal.
It was also reported that the AR-15 used in the incident was assembled from scratch and did not have a serial number on it.
Anderson is facing a felony charge of discharging of a firearm within a municipality, gross misdemeanor charge of cruelty to animals, and a misdemeanor charge of mistreatment of an animal. He will make his first appearance in Norman County District Court on September 28th.