AYLMER – Caitlin Strong says she has suffered sleepless nights and is considering moving after her beloved dogs were shot near her rural home.
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Strong, who lives on a two-hectare property outside of Aylmer with her husband Robert Jordan, last saw her two German shepherds alive when she let them outside around 1:15 p.m. Saturday.
Gunfire rang out about 15 minutes later, Strong said.
Strong, 34, said she wasn’t initially alarmed by the gunfire because neighbours sometimes shoot raccoons.
But after her dogs – nine-year-old Mary Jane and three-year-old Hank – didn’t return for an hour, Strong set out looking for them, tracking their footprints through a forested area into an open field near a creek where the dogs sometimes wandered.
That’s where Strong said she came across blood-soaked snow and what appeared to be drag marks.
“I assumed that this was where the gunshot had come from,” Strong said.
Strong and her husband say they later spoke with neighbours while searching for the dogs and were told coyote hunting is permitted in the area on Saturdays, but no hunting is permitted in the area behind their home and the field where their dogs roamed.
The couple continued searching but didn’t find their dogs. On Sunday, they returned to where Strong found the blood a day earlier and discovered hair that resembled Hank’s, Strong said.
They contacted the OPP and were told the Ministry of Natural Resources should be contacted if the blood wasn’t believed to be human.
The OPP is aware of the incident and Ministry of Natural Resources is leading the investigation, OPP spokesperson Const. Brett Phair said.
A frustrated Strong took to social media on Monday morning to appeal for information. The post, which included photos of the blood and their dogs, generated dozens of messages of support, calls for justice and a few tips.
One day later, Strong posted an update, saying the ministry had located the dead dogs and the shooter.
“They will be brought home. This tragic situation is still under investigation so please come forward if you have anything at all. We will let the investigators do their work and hope justice is served. RIP Mary Jane and Hank,” Strong wrote.
The ministry declined to comment, citing the ongoing investigation, but Strong said she was told Hank and Mary Jane died from being shot.
The dogs’ deaths have left an empty space in Strong and Jordan’s lives. They are considering moving from the home they bought three years ago from Jordan’s mother, the home he grew up in.
“Our living room upstairs has a huge window . . . and you’re looking out, and what do you see? You see through the bush where your dog was shot,” Jordan, 33, said.
Strong added: “Unfortunately, we feel that this is no longer our home.”
The couple lamented that enjoying a walk through the bush would always be a reminder of the “horrible way” Mary Jane and Hank “were taken from us,” Strong said.
“Our home is so quiet now . . . We will never be the same after this event,” Strong said.
The couple is urging nearby residents to report any trespassing or suspicious hunting behaviour to the Ministry of Natural Resources and the OPP.
The Local Journalism Initiative is funded by the Government of Canada