According to Captain Roger Antonio, Public Information Officer for the Charleston County Sheriff’s Office, Ryan William Murphy of 10025 Alert Rd., McClellanville was charged with Ill Treatment of Animals.
He is charged with shooting eight 9 mm rounds into a one year old Labrador Retriever dog causing torment and unnecessary pain.
Deputies with the Charleston County Sheriff's Office were dispatched to the incident location in regards to a dog that had been shot multiple times. The defendant, Ryan William Murphy, had buried the dog (Rocky) in a shallow (18") grave, and left the scene prior to arrival of deputies. Witnesses on scene indicated that the defendant had shot Rocky, who lived on the property, multiple times. The defendant had separated the male dog(Rocky) from his female (in heat) dog (Lady) while in the act of intercourse. Both dogs were approximately the same size and both lived at the incident location. Rocky belonged to the defendant's sibling.
Murphy, returned to the incident location and surrendered the weapon used to shoot the dog. He told deputies that he killed Rocky because his dog, Lady, had hip issues due to a recent accident and he was informed that she would die if she became pregnant. It was learned that Lady had actually been involved in an accident in August 2015, and it was recommended that she be spayed due to possible "complications - not death" that could occur during pregnancy. According to several witness statements Murphy mentioned that he "wanted to kill Rocky" on numerous occasions to include saying such statements the day before the incident. A necropsy on the deceased dog conducted at University of Georgia indicate the dog also suffered a broken leg, and that death was due to gun shots, for the dog had no underlying illness.
