To Shane Givens and his family the loss of Boomer was like losing a member of the family.
The Givens family was in the process of moving from Simpson County to Tennessee to start a new career when their eight year old boxer, Boomer disappeared.
The incident slowed the family down in their preparations to move because they did not want to leave without Boomer.
The dog had been originally spent his time on a couch in the house but was moved with another female boxer to the garage and later to the shop while the family was out of town. When Givens returned the shop door, which opens to the inside, was standing open, and the dogs were gone.
Eventually the female dog returned but not Boomer. Givens said some other dogs were in the yard and he went and talked to their owners, but their dogs had not been in fights and the owners had not seen Boomer. Givens said everyone around knew him and that he was Boomer’s owner.
The family lives on Highway 540 between Harrisville and Braxton.
Boomer went missing on Tuesday, January 14. Givens said he printed flyers and posted pictures on Facebook looking for his dog. The Givens home is near Deer Camp Road. He said he contacted camp members he knew, but they claimed to have no knowledge of the dog’ whereabouts.
Givens said his neighbors saw what they thought to be Boomer in a ditch and contacted Givens. He went to recover the dog, but at first wasn’t sure the dead animal was Boomer. He soon realized that it was.
At about that time two hunters came along. Givens questioned them, and one initially claimed to have no knowledge of the dog. The other said he had seen the dog in the ditch. Givens said one of the hunters gave him a knife to cut the rope that had been tied around the dog’s neck.
This dog weighed in between 90 and 100 pounds. He also had many wounds to the inside of his legs.
Givens said he had previously had some complaints from some neighbors about his dog and was accused of his dog killing a bull. As it turned out it was a pit bull which was found underneath the dead bull. He said the neighbor told him he would have killed the dog if he had seen him but he had not.
Givens contacted the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department. The responded and determined that Boomer had been shot in the chest and it appeared as though the wounds that were found on the animal indicated that he may have been used as a bait dog. He said the dog was found within a mile of the family’s home.
Givens said there have been neighbors who have had dogs come up missing in the area. Givens believes his dog may have been abducted and used as a bait dog because he was friendly and not vicious. There have been groups of people who have been known to fight dogs in county but arrests have not been made.
Givens said there is a $1000 reward offered and if anyone has information that leads to an arrest and conviction. They should contact the Simpson County Sheriff’s Department at 601-847-2921. Sheriff Paul Mullins said as of Monday afternoon there have been no arrests made in connection to this dog.
