Benjamin Schroeder Charged With Killing New Germany Family's Dog With Bow And Arrow

NEW GERMANY, MINN. (WCCO) -- A 33-year-old man has been charged with a felony after allegedly shooting and killing a New Germany family's dog with a bow and arrow last month.

Benjamin Lee Schroeder, of New Germany, has been charged in Carver County, according to documents filed last week. The victim was Reba, a 2-year-old white Great Pyrenees mix belonging to the family of Dan Swanson. The dog was described as a fierce protector of dozens of chickens that live on their farm.

Swanson told WCCO last month that Reba was chasing down a predator Oct. 12 and ventured off the property, but didn't return like usual. She often left but quickly looped back around.

He said that a neighbor came to notify him that he witnessed her killing.

The criminal complaint says that a witness, who was hunting in the area, observed Reba and another dog enter the nearby hunting area that evening, but said it didn't appear that the dogs were chasing deer or predators.

A couple days later, the same day as WCCO's earlier report, Schroeder reportedly admitted to authorities that he had shot the dog with his compound bow. He told investigators that the dog was chasing a deer and "ruining his hunt," and that he decided to shoot the dog after it went under his stand.

The complaint says he left the scene when he learned another hunter was nearby.

Schroeder has apologized to the Swanson family and offered to reimburse them for the cost to replace the dog. However, Reba was essential to the family's healing from another tragedy. Weeks after they first got her as a puppy, Swanson's son died by suicide.

"Any pet you've had around, you get attached to it, and see something like that happen to it, you feel, you know, you just get mad," Swanson said. "I think that's why people got so upset is because they are our family members. They're our babies."

A conviction on the charge of torturing and/or mistreating animals carries with it a maximum potential penalty of two years in prison and/or a $5,000 fine.