Duson Man Accused of Shooting Two Dogs to Death

(KPEL News) - Buddy and Poupe are two dogs that are no longer living after a Duson man was accused of shooting the dogs, according to KLFY.

They spoke to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, which reports a Duson man was arrested for Cruelty to Animals charges after the man killed two dogs that had been left in his backyard. Why did he do this? We do not know. We'll share what is known about this case.

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According to the Lafayette Parish Sheriff's Office, 76-year-old Gerald Trahan went over to a friend's house, 49-year-old Damon Labbe, because the two men were going to exchange some crawfish products.

The two exchanged their items, and Trahan left and then realized he had left his two dogs in Labbe's backyard. In the interim, he called Labbe to have the man tell him, "I shot a dog."

In horror, Trahan pulled up at Labbe's house to find that the head of his 4-year-old golden retriever, Buddy, had been shot off. His other dog, a terrier, had also been killed. The scene was devastating to Trahan, and he says he immediately started to cry.

At some point, Trahan reported what happened to authorities, who then arrested Labbe on Cruelty to Animals charges. Trahan says he accidentally left his dogs in Labbe's backyard, and Labbe thought they had wandered into his yard from his neighbors' and decided to shoot them.

READ MORE: ONE LOUISIANA SHERIFF'S OFFICE ADDRESSES ANIMAL CRUELTY COMPLAINTS IN ST. MARY PARISH

Trahan told KLFY about the terrible scene,

I drove up there, there was my dog, head’s gone, blown off full of blood, and I started crying. I picked him up and put him on my tailgate.

Trahan says he, his wife, and a neighbor of Labbe's looked for the little rat terrier, 8-year-old Poupe, who was found dead nearby in the grass. The neighbor says when she spoke to Labbe about what happened, he said he didn't know they were Trahan's dogs, and the neighbor says,

He walked outside and at that time told me he thought that it was his neighbor’s dog, and that he had felt bad. To which I then replied, you know, there was no reason to shoot any dogs.

What a senseless tragedy that played out at Labbe's home on Friday morning.

Labbe was arrested, and his bond was set at $5,000. He eventually posted bail and was released from the Lafayette Parish Correctional Center.

The neighbor says the two dogs traveled everywhere with Trahan, and they were gentle, sweet dogs.