KTLA

Video reportedly showing dog being killed by crossbow leads to arrest of Alabama man

A husky dog howls in Feshiebridge, Scotland, Monday Jan. 22, 2018. (Andrew Milligan/PA via AP)

A Montgomery, Alabama man has been arrested and charged with animal cruelty after authorities reviewed a video reportedly showing the man tethering a husky before shooting it with a crossbow and dumping its body into Gun Island Chute, a tributary of the Alabama River.

Charles David Graves, 61, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree cruelty to a dog or a cat, according to court records.


Officials with the Montgomery Humane Society were called to the Cedar Park area of Montgomery on Tuesday, Jan. 3 by a local resident who said that her neighbor had shot a dog with a crossbow, an officer wrote in a report of the incident.

When authorities arrived, the resident showed officials video footage from cameras operated by the Cedar Point Landowners Association. The video reportedly showed a man police claim is Graves placing a large white-and gray-female husky mix on a tether, KTLA sister station WIAT reports.

“Mr. Graves returns to his vehicle, retrieves his crossbow, and shoots the dog,” the humane officer wrote in the report. “Then [he] begins to drag the dog to the top of the hill and pushed the dog into the Gun Island Chute.”

First-degree cruelty to a dog or a cat is a felony in Alabama carrying a sentence of between one and 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $15,000.

Graves is currently being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $2,500 bond, according to jail records.