A Guyton man remains in the Effingham County jail today, accused of shooting to death his dog while he was drunk.
Neighbors on Heidt Landing Road in the Guyton area called the Sheriff’s Office on April 23 and said that Keith Daniel Hamilton, 23, frequently became drunk and fired a gun on his property. They said the previous evening, Hamilton shot and killed his dog.
A deputy went to Hamilton’s house at 7:30 a.m. and found fresh blood on the dog house and spent shotgun shells on the ground. An incident report said the deputy found multiple items that had been destroyed, including a bag of trash, a glass jar, a child’s booster seat and a container of washing detergent.
Hamilton said he had been drinking the night before but had not been shooting. He claimed the animal ran away.
The deputy asked Hamilton’s girlfriend, who said she heard gunshots the night before. She said Hamilton told her he shot the dog.
She led the deputy to a trash can, where he found the dog, a white male “bully breed,” wrapped in trash bags, with a 1-inch to 2-inch hole in its chest.
When confronted with the evidence, Hamilton said the dog tried to bite him.
He was arrested on charges of aggravated cruelty to animals, obstructing or hindering law enforcement officers, discharging a firearm while under the influence of alcohol, discharging a firearm near a public highway or street and improper disposal of a dead animal.