NEWPORT — A retired Oregon State Police wildlife trooper pleaded guilty Tuesday to two counts of first-degree animal abuse for shooting and killing his neighbor’s two German shepherds in a plea agreement with prosecutors.
As part of his plea, Greg A. Torland, 65, of Toledo agreed to pay the dogs’ owner, Ace Garrison, a total of $13,000, complete an animal rehabilitation course, enroll in a 16-hour anger awareness program, possess no animals or firearms for two years, and complete 100 hours of community service.
Torland is also to have no contact with Garrison or two neighbors who witnessed the dogs’ killing Jan. 6 after the dogs wandered onto his property on Bay Road near Toledo.
Two counts of first-degree aggravated animal abuse and two other counts of first-degree animal abuse were dropped as part of the settlement agreement. The agreement avoided a maximum sentence of a year in jail and a fine of $6,250 on each charge.
Jacob Kamins, an assistant Oregon Department of Justice attorney specializing in animal cruelty cases, was brought in to handle the grand jury proceedings and prosecution. The grand jury heard four witnesses April 9 and voted to indict Torland for shooting and killing eight-month-old Liberty and 18-moth-old Hemi.
Garrison said in various Facebook posts that his dogs got out of their enclosure Jan. 6 while he was at work. Initially told there would be no criminal investigation, Garrison buried his dogs on his property only to have them exhumed later as part of the investigation.
Don’t get me wrong. I love dogs. I do not love dog owners who don’t control their pets. My question is what are the rights of property owners if someone else’s vicious animals, which I’m not saying is the case here, come on to their property? If I recall early coverage of this case, the guilty party here called Animal Control first and was told they could not respond. If anyone thinks that is incorrect, please say so. The basic question is, if someone else’s dogs come on your property, what conditions would justify you shooting them, if any?
Vicious by whose definition? You better be sure before you kill someone’s pet and I’d suggest some unimpeachable evidence if you do because this could lead to the pet owner retaliating violently
You know what? This is not a perfect world. Sometimes animals get out of their enclosures. Most neighbors will just put the animals back in – I’ve done it with cows, horses, donkeys, dogs and goats at various times in my life. Shooting someone’s pets is cruel and cold hearted. He didn’t have to shoot those dogs, he felt entitled to do so. My understanding is one of them was running away from him when he was shot. Torland got off easy in my opinion.
I’m asking a legal question here not a moral question. What is the legal standard for when you can and can’t do what Torland did? Can anyone answer that?