WILMINGTON — It was an emotional day for the family of Gibson, the boxer-mix 3-year-old dog who was shot and killed inside his own backyard as the man who allegedly killed him faced a judge for the first time.
Related: Monkey Junction man allegedly shoots and kills neighbor’s dog for barking
William Fulcher and his family adopted Gibson three years ago, but last week, Alex Christian Hollinger cut that life short.
“That dog was more than a dog, I raised him like a child, so looking at the person who took basically my entire life away was very hard. It’s hard to put into words the emotions that I feel, I’m angry, I’m sad, I want justice for my animal — he was more than an animal he was a family member,” Caleb Hyatt, one of Fulcher’s sons said. “I want this to be treated as more than just a dog being killed because it was a life that was taken away, that’s the big part about it. It wasn’t just a dog, it was a life.”
The family adopted Gibson after picking him out of a litter that was brought into the veterinarian office, Hyatt said.
Now, Hollinger is facing four felony counts of animal cruelty — a court date for April 18 was set during his first appearance. The charges are the first offense for Hollinger, but carry a hefty penalty of 4-25 months for a single Class H felony.
Hollinger agreed to surrender all of his firearms for the duration of the investigation and has been ordered by the judge to have no contact with his neighbors.
“Justice” for Gibson
For Gibson’s family, there is one thing they want: justice.
“It’s not fair, because his barking was an inconvenience he took it in his own hands to shoot him … just because he was an inconvenience he took away my entire world,” Hyatt said.
Hyatt was at band practice when he got a hysterical phone call from his mother saying that Gibson was hurt and bleeding and on the way to the vet.
“I put my stuff down and ask our bass player ‘I need you to drive me to College Road Animal Hospital right now.’ I get there and my dog is bleeding from the neck, his gums and tongue are pale, of course from there they took him to the trauma hospital and that’s where he passed away. It was really hard watching that because I was holding him in my arms as he was dying and he looked me in the eye and he was gone … I watched my best friend, practically my son die in my own arms,” Hyatt said.
Zachary Fulcher, Hyatt’s stepbrother, was the one who found Gibson and recounted the scene.
“He had run inside and then back outside, at first I thought it was nothing, that’s what he usually does. It wasn’t until I finally decided to get up and go get him that I saw the blood at the dog door and went outside and saw more blood around the yard, then I realized ‘oh he is in trouble, he is bleeding,’ in the process of getting him inside, the guy who shot him said ‘Oh, is he alright?'” Zachary Fulcher said, referring to Hollinger.
“They left to go to the vet when my dad pulled up soon after and I had to clean up the mess after that and it was in the middle of doing that that I thought ‘yeah he’s not getting back from this’ my entire floor had blood all over it,” he concluded.
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