When her Airedale Terrier, Sailor, disappeared the day after Christmas, Ladoga’s Corey Deckard and her family were heartbroken.

She was even more heartbroken when she learned her beloved dog could have been shot, killed and disposed of.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Matt McCarty said a witness saw Sailor on the property of Ladoga resident Ted Craig with one of Craig’s chickens in his mouth. The witness heard gunshots, but didn’t actually see the shooting.

Since no eyewitnesses actually saw the shooting, local police haven’t been able to take any action. And McCarty said that, perhaps, no action should be taken.

“If this individual was protecting his livestock, then I would imagine there’s nothing criminal that can be done to him,” McCarty said.

According to police, Craig denied knowing anything about the disappearance of the dog.

Montgomery County Sheriff’s Deputy Gary Truax said, “If there is an animal that is attacking you or destroying your property, you have the right to defend your property.”

Certainly the Animal Welfare League of Montgomery County never wants to see a dog hurt or killed, but the organization stresses that if an animal is providing an imminent danger to a person or their property and there is no other option, killing the animal is acceptable for protection.

“If there’s some type of imminent danger, of course, someone has to defend their animals and their family,” said Candy Hodges, who is on the Animal Welfare League’s Board of Directors.

However, the League is standing by 24 hours a day, seven days a week to send animal control officers out to assist with animals that are unwanted on properties, so they don’t have to be killed.

“I would hope that no one would shoot a dog unless it was in defense of something,” Hodges said. “I would hope they would call the Animal Welfare League so we could send one of our officers out or call law enforcement. Anytime we get a call from law enforcement for something like that, we always work with them to try to resolve the problem.”

The sheriff’s department has received multiple animal complaints from Craig about dogs entering his property and killing his chickens, the last one on Tuesday, Truax said.

If a dog is running loose, animal control officers will bring it to the Animal Welfare League, where it will be kept in isolation for several days to check its personality and aggressiveness before being made adoptable, Hodges said. If they owner comes to claim the dog, he or she will pay a fine for allowing the dog to run loose.

Ladoga doesn’t have any more complaints about stray dogs than any other town around the county, Hodges said.

Deckard said she is planning legal action and she hopes to get other Ladoga residents involved who have experienced similar problems.

“It’s all circumstantial evidence, but it’s still there,” Deckard said. “I want someone to know what is going on in this town to keep their dogs and their children safe.”

If her dog was indeed shot and killed, Deckard would have a difficult time in a criminal case as her dog was technically running loose, McCarty said. Both the town of Ladoga and Montgomery County have ordinances about dogs running loose, he said.

“As a responsible pet owner your animal should never be out in that position,” Truax said. “If you’re a responsible pet owner you won’t let your pet out to do that.”

Deckard said it was an accident that Sailor got outside. She said her dog was never allowed to run free before that time.

Sailor was part of the family, even saving one of her four children from another dog that attacked him, Deckard said.

Sailor had been rescued from a shelter, and had been part of the Deckard family for four years. In partial tribute to Sailor, the Deckards have adopted another dog, a terrier/labrador mix, from an animal shelter in Kentucky.

“He won’t replace Sailor,” Deckard said. “But I thought if I’m going to do something positive about Sailor’s death, I thought it would be to rescue another dog.”