OPELOUSAS, La. (KLFY)-- An Opelousas man is in jail for animal cruelty after allegedly shooting his neighbor's dog. The dog miraculously survived, though will spend the rest of his life with a bullet lodged in his skull.
The owners of the eight-year-old poodle named Frank, who survived the bullet to the head, said this was no accident.
"I can't believe he made it. To be honest with you, it's a miracle," Mia Stanford said.
Stanford shared Frank with her ex-husband, Ryan. They told News 10 last month, Frank was shot at Ryan's home. He lost an eye, but he lived.
They suspected their neighbor, Christopher Nations, 35, shot Frank, as animal control took Nations' dogs away after his pack of dogs attacked Frank on Ryan's property. Stanford said Nations' anger had been building since then.
"This gentleman not only shot Frank, but went back to Ryan's parents' house and threatened his parents and started to threaten the rest of the neighborhood," Stanford said.
After a month-long investigation into the shooting of Frank, Nations was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and two counts of resisting an officer with force.
"It was just escalating to a situation where, you know, sooner or later, it wasn't going to be a dog. It was going to be a human, and we needed to get this gentleman off the streets for a while and rehabilitate him," Stanford added.
Frank is now in rehabilitation himself. His dad, a 17-year navy veteran, is helping him adjust to his new life with one eye. While it's been tough mentally and financially helping Frank recover, his parents say they can breathe again now that the suspect has been arrested.
"Christopher, you messed with the wrong pup. You messed with the wrong family. We love our dogs. We take them very seriously," Stanford told News 10. "Frank is our child, and justice will be served. It is, and I'm happy that you're off the streets and away from terrorizing people and animals."
Stanford saying Frank's story showed the undying love between an animal and their owners.
"That's really what I'm after now, to make sure that justice is served to the full extent of the law," Stanford said.
Nations is being held in the St. Landry Parish jail. His bond has not yet been set.
