BEND, Ore. (AP) Two brothers convicted of killing livestock guardian dogs while hunting in the Ochocos have been ordered to pay the dogs' owner nearly $250,000.
A Crook County jury on Tuesday ordered Paul and Craig Johnson to pay the dogs' owner after a civil damages trial, The Bulletin of Bend reported.
The brothers pleaded no contest to a single count each of misdemeanor animal abuse and were sentenced to probation and community service in October 2013. The brothers shot and killed three Great Pyrenees sheepdogs.
They told a Crook County sheriff's deputy in 2012 that they believed they were wild dogs.
Lann Leslie, who represented Craig Johnson, said Thursday that the brothers didn't know there were sheep in the area and that they didn't see the signs. When they used an elk bugle, the dogs barked and ran toward them. Considering the circumstances, the Johnsons thought they were wild dogs.
The brothers have been ordered to pay owner Gordon Clark $7,500 for the replacement value of the dogs, $100,000 in emotional harm and $139,500 in punitive damages.
Leslie would not comment whether he and his client plan to file an appeal. Brendon Alexander, who represented Paul Johnson in the lawsuit, said they are looking at their options in terms of appeals.
Clark said the money and favorable verdict don't make up for the deaths of Elvira, Tony and Jackie Chan, the three dogs killed in 2012.
"I have a lot of dogs, but these dogs were born in my garage, and I raised them for the first couple months of their life," Clark said, adding later, "I wish it never happened."