An Arkansas man is accused of fatally shooting eight dogs that he had rescued with his girlfriend before she moved out of state, court filings show.
The Texarkana Gazette reported that Brian Moore, 25, of Sevier County, who faces eight counts of animal cruelty, pleaded not guilty this week in Sevier County District Court.
Moore reportedly shot the dogs, some of which had microchips from a Fort Worth, Texas, animal shelter, after they started biting people and killed a neighbor’s calf, his attorney, Mickey Buchanan, told the newspaper.
The Sevier County sheriff's office began an investigation in December after Ark-La-Tex Animal Rescue in Texarkana found several dead dogs and four dogs still alive at a home on Bradley Chapel Road in Horatio.
Moore and his girlfriend reportedly rescued 127 dogs and cats from one shelter, according to the Gazette. In certain cases, the paper reported, the couple had used the Ark-La-Tex Animal Rescue name to get dogs from the Fort Worth shelter.
Moore has a trial scheduled for March 14, records show.
Information for this article was contributed by Jim Williamson of the Texarkana Gazette.