HOUSTON – A Harris County grand jury decided there was not enough evidence to support charges against a man who shot and killed a dog at a crowded dog park.
In March, the Harris County District Attorney's Office charged Joseph Potts with felony animal cruelty, but Monday grand jury chose not to indict him.
The incident happened in January in the dog section of Bay Area Park. Karey Wilson brought her family's Staffordshire terrier, Diesel, to play, but a short time later he was dead.
Potts told investigators that Diesel was aggressive and that he opened fire to protect his wife and their two dogs. But Wilson and other witnesses tell a different story about the dogs' encounter.
"When they passed each other there was some growling, that was it there was nothing else no biting from neither one of them," Wilson said.
Wilson says she saw Potts kick Diesel and then shoot him three times.
"There was no need for that my dog was down, he was not getting back up , there was no danger," she said.
Harris County D.A. Devon Anderson said she disagreed with the grand jury's decision.
"Although this is a setback in this particular case we are going to aggressively prosecute cruelty to animal charges and this does not make it open season on dogs in dog parks," Anderson said.