Dog Murdered in South Dakota

[Cindy Reid]

Plese help!! I am posting the story that I had my niece write regarding the murder of her 2 dogs on Sunday, April 20th, 2008 in Agar, South Dakota by the Sully County sherriff, Bill Stahl. His phone # is 605-350-7380. Her name is Elisha Prien, I can give her address and phone number if newpaper, tv, or legal official needs it to do SOMETHING about this. I would appreciate any and all help, suggestions, anything that can be done about this horriffic situation and the cruelty displayed by the law in that area. THANK YOU!!

On Saturday the 19th of April I gave my dogs a bath and after waiting tilll they were dry, I let them out to use the bathroom as usual. About 5 minutes later I went to let them in and only my dog Gresky came in. Yzerman and Tippie wouldn't respond. I kept going out and calling for them but they didn't respond. They didn't come home that night and I was worried because that isn't like my dogs not to come when I called them. On Sunday morning, after a sleepless night, I went up and down the road looking for my dogs hoping for the best, and still I couldnt find them. By Sunday evening I was VERY worried! Knowing my dogs were gone for almost 24 hrs and had not come home I couldn't bear to think that something bad had happened to them. My husband and I had heard the neighbor wanted to harm our dogs, so when my husband came home from work he went to our neighbors house to confront the man. He said he had not killed the dogs and that we wouldn't find them on his property. Worried that he was lying, I called the sheriff. No one was at the jail so I left a very distressful message. About 20 minutes later I got a call back from the sheriff, I told him my story and he said to me "I killed your dogs!" Very disgusted and in shock, I asked him why and he replied " Saturday afternoon someone hit a deer on the highway and your dogs came out of the shelter belt and started eating on the deer. And dragged the deer from the ditch to the field." (which is odd knowing that my dogs are both small, Yzerman only weighs 48 pounds and Tippie only weighs around 10 pounds as he was just 6 months old and a small breed, and a deer usually weighs around 150 pounds) He said when he approached my dogs they were growling at him. Which I also find odd. Yzerman is one of the most well mannered dogs you would of ever meet, and Tippie too. So he said he shot them because they didnt have any collars on them. I tried to explain that I had just given them a bath before I let them out to go to the bathroom and had not had the chance to put their collars back on. And he had said that he had to put the deer down also. Another oddity, why would the dogs attempt to "eat on the deer" or drag it off the road if it were still alive?? The whole time I spoke with the sheriff he had no remorse, even after I told him Tippie was still a puppie. She wasnt even 6 months old yet!! He said to me "we can't have dogs running at large" has he never heard of animal control? And knowing for a fact there are at least 15 dogs running around Onida.(at large). He even went as far as to tell me he wasn't going to sit there and be interrogated by me! I feel I had EVERY right to find out what happened to my babies!! So when I hung up the phone my husband and I went to the field to try and find our dogs, and sadly we did. My dogs were around 100 yards west of the deer, and Yzer and Tip were around 30 yards apart from one another. Also to my horror, I also noticed he had shot them in their stomachs!! Which meant they had lain there and suffered in severe pain and agony for hours until they died!!! My husband and I have had Yzer since he was a pup. He would of been 3 years old in November. Anyone who has ever met our boy instantly fell in love with him. He held a spot in everyone's heart who ever met him! He was very social (loved attention) and has went everywhere with us since he was a pup. And Tippie was always happy shaking her butt and wagging her tail. They both were exellent with children. Ask any of our friends! And what makes this so hard for my husband and I, is that I am unable to have children and those dogs were our kids! You would never of met more spoiled dogs! I have done nothing but sit and cry since my babies were murdered ,knowing I will never get to see my dogs run and play again. No one ever tried to contact us to let us know there was a problem. I know there has to be a better way to have handled the situation other than killing innocent dogs!! In my eyes the sheriff ,Bill Stahl, of Sully county in Agar,South Dakota killed my kids! It is a very small town, and he knew who the dogs belonged to. None of the information that he gave me regarding the reason he shot my dogs, or the location that I found their bodies in regards to the body of the deer, why we or even animal control wasn't contacted, or basically ANYTHING he said has a bit of truth to it... I ask with a very heavy heart for someone to help my husband and I see justice for my babies! I can't fight someone who thinks he is above the law by myself. And if you don't stand for what you believe in you will fall for everything! And intend to stand tall for my babies. Knowing they are unable to do so for there selfs now.

Elisha Prien
Agar, South Dakota

[kayla]

It didnt have the reply thing at the bottom of ur other replys. But for like the 10th time i am saying that her dogs could have gotten lose from her fence. It happens all the time. And do i know what i am talking about. What do u mean by that? And this lady how is she ingornat she is sharing a story about two innocent dogs that got shot by a man. Serisously if you dont like the things people are writing dont read them,

[Renee`]

Who's to say YOU aren't some ignorant old lady with a computer, Pet Owner. So anonymous and hidden. Makes it easy to attack, doesn't it?

[PET OWNER]

It doesn't matter who the heck I am!! I am a SULLY COUNTY resident, who is behind our sherriff 110%!! If he says he is by the book and justified, I beleive him!! We wouldn't have him as our sheriff if he did things he wasn't suppose just because he felt like it!! He is our sheriff!!!

[Susie]

You know what you cant talk to people lke this because they have no feelings or a heart

[Lin]

Dear Pet Owner,

Any animal control officer that I have ever known and I have know quite a few, would never leave 2 dead dogs in a field. He would have taken them away - if he had any decency. He sounds like a redneck hick.
I guess you are a personal friend of his becuase his family has nothing to do with this situation. No one has made any comments about them that I have seen. I only pray that he doesn't own any animals.
Heaven forbid that if he did and one of his got loose, someone might shoot it/them and leave them lying around dead. Many ACO's are calloused beyond belief!
The "position" they hold makes them think they are above the laws.
Lin

[Peanuts]

People arent gonna kill his dogs unless they are dumb. This community isn't an illiterate town and a bunch of redneck hicks. WHY DONT SOME OF YOU PEOPLE ACTUALLY COME TO ONIDA, SD...Dead Center of the state. Not too hard to miss. Come to the town and visit. Hang out.
Drink some beers. Watch some hometown two time state championship basketball girls winners. Come see what a real community is made of. THEN...and only then...will i like to see you comment on this man/community. Cuz when you talk about bill. You are talking about this guy, and that guy, and this girl, and that girl. This town is a big ol' family. We look out for others. I HATE PEOPLE THAT FORM OPINIONS JUST BECAUSE CINDY WROTE A 2 PAGE LETTER TO THE EDITOR. Cindy, I stood behind you. Until, i came on here and seen how you really act towards people that dont like your opinion. Hell, Pet Owner has his/her own opinion on this story. You cant go bash him and say that his "breath stinks." Hell, now your acting like the school's junior high girls. Lets show some maturity on this website and not cyber bully each one and another. You guys from Italy and Ireland, stay out of this. This is from SODAK. We love animals, and if some are growling, we are gonna have to take care of it.
sorry, but its the truth.

[kayla]

Excatly, that is the same thing i was trying to say to pet owner.

[kelly]

Yes the sheriff is animal control, so he if knew who the dogs belonged to, why didn,t he go to the owners and say( if you don,t go get your dogs right now, i,m going to shot them)!!!!! if this is such a small town, it wouldn,t have takin him long to get to the owners house. and a 6 month old puppy will growl and act in a threating manner!! i know first hand. or he could have told them to go get them and sign them over to the animal control? the whole point is, he could have handled it different, also the owners could have been better at keeping their KIDS at home. lets be realistic here, would you let your kids run away and be gone alnight, or would you be out looking for them. if there was a hole in the fence it should have been fixed!!!! it looks like there was some wrong on both ends, but especially the sheriff AKA animal control

[Renee`]

So what? That doesn't give him any kind of GOD status. If he screwed up then he should have to answer for it. If not, then fine. Your attacks on Cindy aren't warranted. All the woman is doing is asking for help. If you can't provide that, then why not buzz out of the discussion?
Negativity is a disease. And like I said, it's easy to attack when you're anonymous. That's pretty chicken. Reminds me of men in white hoods hiding their faces while they perperatrate their harmful deeds.

[PET OWNER]

So your COMPARING me to the KKK!!! WOW!!! Ive heard it all now!!!! hahaha!! Honestly, I think Cindy needs to HELP herself, before she starts asking for anyone elses HELP!!!!

[Renee`]

Then why hide? It's the same thing! You're hiding and spreading hate. What's the difference? If you aren't a part of the solution, then you're a part of the problem. So, you have a problem with someone not agreeing with you?

[Sandy & Roxy & Junior]

Hey Renee, you know Pet Owner's attitude reminds me of someone else we recently had the misfortune of dealing with ... doesn't he remind you of that guy from the hoax website 'puppyprofits'?? that's what reading Pet Owner's comments reminds me of...