Man kills girlfriend’s dog in mountains, then shows her photo of his pawprint, feds say
A Montana man argued with his girlfriend over her dogs before taking one of them into the mountains, where he shot and killed the 1-year-old white Labrador, federal prosecutors said.
Gabriel Martin Puga left the dog’s body in the snow, then returned to his girlfriend’s home on March 21, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Montana.
When he saw her, he “showed her a photo of the dog’s pawprint in the snow from where he had shot him,” prosecutors said.
Prosecutors didn’t specify where in the mountains Puga, who lives in Townsend, is accused of killing the dog. Townsend is between the Big Belt Mountains and the Elkhorn Mountains, about a 35-mile drive southeast from Montana’s capital, Helena.
Puga, 33, pleaded guilty on Dec. 4 to a charge of a prohibited person in possession of firearms and ammunition, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a Dec. 5 news release.
He isn’t allowed to have a gun at any time because he’s a convicted felon, according to prosecutors.
Puga was convicted of a felony criminal endangerment charge in January in Broadwater County, where his hometown is, two months before he’s accused of fatally shooting his girlfriend’s dog, prosecutors said.
His federal defender didn’t immediately respond to McClatchy News’ request for comment Dec. 5.
After Puga argued with his girlfriend about her dogs, she told authorities he repeatedly threatened her and warned that he’d use a gun, prosecutors said.
The day of the argument, he took her .380-caliber SCCY pistol, her Labrador and “asked his friend to go with him to the mountains to help him kill the dog,” prosecutors wrote in court filings.
The friend later told authorities that he met Puga in the mountains and that Puga took his gun, a .45-caliber Glock pistol, according to court documents.
He shot the dog, gave his friend his gun and went to his girlfriend’s house, court documents say.
“The girlfriend said that (Puga) told her that he had to shoot the dog twice because his tail was wagging after the first gunshot,” prosecutors wrote in the court filings.
Authorities found photos of the dog after he was killed on Puga’s phone — as well as messages in which Puga mentioned the shooting, according to prosecutors.
The dog’s body and shell casings from Puga’s friend’s gun were found by law enforcement in the mountains, prosecutors said.
Puga pleaded guilty without a plea agreement, according to court records.
This “is, in the government’s view, the most favorable resolution for (Puga),” U.S. Attorney Jesse A. Laslovich and Assistant U.S. Attorney Amanda L. Myers wrote in court documents.
Pleading guilty with no plea agreement is known as an “open plea” or a “straight plea,” according to Burnham & Gorokhov PLLC, a Washington, D.C.-based law firm.
“Unlike guilty pleas pursuant to plea agreements, open pleas do not carry any protection for the defendant against prosecution for related offenses,” the firm explains online.
Puga is facing up to 15 years in prison, a potential $250,000 fine and up to three years of supervised release, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.
He’s scheduled to be sentenced on April 16, according to prosecutors.
“Puga was detained pending further proceedings,” prosecutors said.
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