Now the Guns are coming for our pets: Retired K9 who served in Iraq shot, killed in Powell

http://billingsgazette.com/news/local/retired-military-k-who-served-in-iraq-shot-killed-in/article_1ec0d928-fc7f-5565-9152-e174e388f38b.html


"Matthew Bessler should have been hunting in Shell, Wyo., this week with a dog he loved enough to call a family member. But after a fatal encounter over the weekend, the combat-turned-service dog is dead, and in the absence of Mike, a 9-year-old Belgian Malinois, Bessler is left seeking answers.

On Saturday, a man on a bicycle stopped in the road adjacent to Bessler’s property and fatally shot Mike. Bessler was away, hunting in the Bighorn Mountains.

Mike and Bessler did two tours in Iraq that left both with post-traumatic stress disorder. Nobody witnessed the Saturday shooting. According to the Powell Tribune, the Park County Sheriff’s Office believes the man's actions were justified because he felt threatened by Mike, despite the entry wounds being in the dog's backside. Bessler disputes their findings and hopes, through “civil means,” to find out what exactly happened to Mike."