A Washakie County judge on Wednesday sentenced a Worland-area man to three years’ supervised probation and ordered him to pay $1,000 in fines plus court costs, for riddling his own dog with bullets.
Court documents cast the Jan. 13 incident as a wild shooting spree, while the man called it an attempt to put down a problematic dog.
A trial jury this summer convicted Donald “Dudley” Wright, 60, of felony animal cruelty, using a firearm in a felony, and two misdemeanor counts of breach of peace.
The night of Jan. 13, Wright, frustrated at the dog eating his medication and, according to him, killing chickens, shot at it multiple times, injuring and disfiguring it.
Neighbors, then a vet, then a woman named Sabrina McClain rescued the dog, which is now doing well, according to court testimony.
“It appears as though he did in fact intend to put his dog down,” said Washakie County District Court Judge Bobbi Overfield at Wright’s sentencing hearing Wednesday in Worland. “Though the way in which that came about is what has resulted in this case.”
Overfield addressed a lament Wright made in court Wednesday that the community has shunned and derided him.
“The court understands, certainly society and the community’s concerns in this situation,” the judge added.
On the other hand, he’s 60 years old, and his criminal history dates from decades ago.
He was frank with law enforcement and didn’t try to conceal the crime, the judge noted.
The Terms
Overfield sentenced Wright to 30 days in jail, plus three years’ supervised probation. A prison sentence of between two and four years could follow if Wright violates his probation.
The terms include that he won’t be allowed to leave the state without provision. He’s subject to supervision agent visits and heightened law enforcement scrutiny.
He is barred from contacting the women who were next door during the shooting incident.
He loses his gun rights, as he’s been convicted of a felony.
He’s required to submit a DNA sample to the state, is barred from having any drugs or alcohol, and is to seek some behavioral treatment.
Wright’s defense attorney H. Richard Hopkinson had asked the court instead to impose one year of unsupervised probation.
Washakie County Attorney Tony Barton requested a sentence of six months in jail, followed by three years’ supervised probation, with the threat of between four and eight years in prison should Wright fail probation.
In Hindsight
Wright told the court that in hindsight, he wished he’d handled his frustration with the dog differently.
But he cast the incident as a “miniscule” event compared with his weighty convictions, and said there’s no Wyoming law saying he couldn’t put down his own dog.
“My intention was not to be cruel to that dog. That dog dragged a chicken through my home, through the pet door,” he said, adding that that was “my final straw,” after the dog had already eaten his medications.
“It was my right to put down my dog,” he said.
Wright said he chained the dog outside and took his first shot. The bullet went through the dog’s jaw and into its collar, breaking the collar so that the dog fled to the neighboring home.
The night was cold and dark, and the dog was black, making it hard to see, Wright added.
“Sure, I tried to scare him out from underneath the deck by firing rounds, OK?” said Wright. “I do admit I might have scared the women that were inside.”
He ran out of ammunition, went home to get another magazine, and the women next door took the dog away so that Wright couldn’t finish the task, he said.
“I’ve been lambasted and slandered on social media. I’ve got death threats on social media,” he said.
Wright said he regrets the shooting, and believes he could have handled it differently.
But, “I don’t believe that you can take someone and ruin their life over something that was so — in my mind so miniscule,” he said. “It was an unfortunate circumstance that dog got away. Everything got out of control and I’m sorry for that.”
He said he lost his job, a side job, a property income source, and his hope for a good future.
Not That But This
Barton countered during his statement to the court, saying Wright continues to misinterpret the conviction the jury chose.
He quoted from the felony animal cruelty, which references in part a person who knowingly and with intent to cause death or undue suffering, beats with cruelty, tortures, torments or mutilates an animal.
“That’s what he was convicted of,” said Barton. “He wasn’t convicted of trying to shoot his dog. That seems to completely escape him at this point.”
Barton also criticized what he called a lack of remorse on Wright’s part, as the man twice used the word “miniscule” to refer to his conduct.
“Mr. Wright has shown absolutely zero remorse for the pain and suffering he caused that dog,” said barton. “Mr. Wright’s entire statement was about inconvenience to himself.”
Clair McFarland can be reached at clair@cowboystatedaily.com.
