COHASSET, MA — A 59-year-old man has been charged with animal cruelty and firearms violations following an investigation into the fatal shooting of a family dog in August.
Christopher Lucas, of Cohasset, was arrested by Cohasset Police detectives and charged with animal cruelty, discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, hunting without a license, and hunting out of season.
The charges stem from an incident that occurred on Aug. 16 at a residence on Hillside Drive in Cohasset.
The investigation determined that Lucas was allegedly attempting to hunt coyotes from a second-floor window of a room located above his garage.
Investigators determined that the residence is located within 500 feet of several occupied dwellings.
During the incident, Lucas discharged a firearm from the window of the residence and struck and killed a 14-year-old pet dog named Lise.
The dog, which belonged to Lucas’ wife, was in the driveway area of the home when it was shot in the head.
Investigators learned that Lucas did not possess a valid Massachusetts hunting license at the time of the incident and that the hunting activity occurred outside of the legal hunting season.
The event was captured on the home’s security camera system.
As part of the investigation, the Cohasset Police Department suspended Lucas’ license to carry firearms and seized multiple firearms from the residence.
Lucas is being held at the Cohasset Police Department on $1,000 cash bail.
He is scheduled to be arraigned Tuesday morning in Quincy District Court.
