PORTLAND, Ore. — A Portland man who shot a neighbor’s dog because the animal was chasing nutria he cared for was sentenced to 15 days in jail.
The Oregonian reported Wednesday that Michael Robert Hutchinson, 60, seemed nervous in Multnomah County Circuit Court as he pleaded no contest to felony first-degree aggravated animal abuse and misdemeanor possession of a loaded firearm in public.
The newspaper reports Hutchison lovingly cared for the nutria, a type of rodent that lived near his trailer. He’d feed them bread and scraps of food regularly.
But when in January he saw his neighbor’s 14-pound terrier mix dog chase after one of the semiaquatic rodents, he shot it with a pellet gun. The dog, named Marley, was one year old.
Hutchinson told the judge on Tuesday he was sorry he killed the dog.
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