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HENRY CHMILELENKO arrested for shooting his German Shepherd puppy who had to be euthanized

- New Mexico, USA -


Authorities have arrested HENRY CHMILELENKO after he shot his 6-month-old German Shepherd puppy named Kirk with a rifle.


On September 3, 2022, the Rio Rancho Police Department received two calls about a shooting at a home on 424 Southern Boulevard SW. The callers reported that CHMILELENKO was shooting his puppy.


A witness told police she was in her house when she heard a pop and when she lifted her curtains, she saw CHMILELENKO “wearing only a plaid shirt and no pants or underwear – holding a .22-caliber, gray rifle with a long scope.” She said that CHMILELENKO “was on top of his elevated wooden porch, just outside his front door, aiming at his dog running around the gravel at the bottom of the porch ramp.” The woman saw CHMILELENKO “take a second shot at the dog, which hit its rear end, cause the dog to yelp out in pain and run around the yard barking in pain.”


The report stated that the witness “said she was appalled and immediately ran over to Henry’s house in her pajamas. (She) explained she wasn’t going to let Henry kill his 6-month-old shepherd puppy.”


According to the report, officers “observed Kirk bleeding on the ground, with a gunshot wound to his rear area. He was still panting.” Rio Rancho animal control officer, Tim Lynch, responded to the scene and Kirk was rushed to a veterinarian where it was determined that Kirk had to be euthanized.


As CHMILELENKO was being placed under arrest, he told officers that Kirk was “going crazy and running around.”

To the officer’s question whether Kirk was attacking him, CHMILELENKO answered no.


In his home police found and confiscated a .22 Remington 597 rifle.


CHMILELENKO was arrested for extreme cruelty to animals and negligent use of a deadly weapon and was transported to the Sandoval County Detention Center.


Allow me to stray from this story to bring something to your attention.

I always Google the names of the people I mention in the stories I publish, and I found animal control officer Tim Lynch on Facebook.

On his profile, there is a picture which I found extremely devastating and totally inappropriate. A photo posted by Lynch shows him holding the head of a dead, bloody animal who has bullets on his/her body and a rifle propped against his/her lifeless body.

I would not expect an animal control officer, who’s duty is to protect and rescue animals, to be posing in such a tasteless and disturbing way.

I would expect more from an animal control officer who had also worked for the Rio Rancho Police Department!


Voice For Us Disclaimer: This story is sourced from official news outlets. Links included.

Details may be removed or additional information may be provided in future should such sources report an update.




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