From the news article:
According to the East Baton Rouge Sheriff's Office, the dog's owner has been charged with negligent homicide "for failing to confine or restrain the dog and leaving it to roam the neighborhood."
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my bold
Well, there it is, folks. SMH. Why, why, why? The dog could have been hit by a vehicle or gotten lost romping with another dog or chasing a rabbit, etc., etc. Even that, IMO, is very foolish and very irresponsible to the neighborhood.
But this...
No matter what kind of dog, we would never let our dog run the neighborhood, and we are in an isolated area. We've had several dogs (Springer Spaniel, and two black Labs) and they were never allowed to run free. Ever.
So now this horror. I didn't really even want to see that beautiful little girl because I know it would make me scream and cry.
At least the owner is in Big Trouble, but the little girl is still gone, and her death must have been nothing but pain and fear until she took her last little breath.
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Negligent Homicide in Louisiana:
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§32. Negligent homicide
A. Negligent homicide is either of the following:
(1) The killing of a human being by criminal negligence.
(2) The killing of a human being by a dog or other animal when the owner is reckless and criminally negligent in confining or restraining the dog or other animal.
B. The violation of a statute or ordinance shall be considered only as presumptive evidence of such negligence.
C.(1) Except as provided for in Paragraph (2) of this Subsection, whoever commits the crime of negligent homicide shall be imprisoned with or without hard labor for not more than five years, fined not more than five thousand dollars, or both.
(2)(a) If the victim killed was under the age of ten years, the offender shall be imprisoned at hard labor, without benefit of probation, parole, or suspension of sentence, for not less than two nor more than five years.
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Source, and more info here:
www.legis.la.gov
