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Tonka, a one-year-old Alaskan Shepherd, was walking with his owner Elizabeth Mongno in woods near their New Jersey home on Wednesday.
Mongno said the dog ran off chasing a deer but he failed to come back when he was called.
About 30 seconds later, Mongno said she heard him yelp and feared he had been bitten by another animal.
Tonka, a one-year-old Alaskan Shepherd, was walking with his owner Elizabeth Mongno in woods near their New Jersey home on Wednesday when he was shot by a hunter
Her husband found Tonka about 50 feet from their property line about 10 minutes later. He had been shot in the heart with an arrow.
Mongno said Tonka had tried to walk home but couldn’t make it.
‘One of our neighbors, unbeknownst to us, had given a relative property to deer hunt. A man saw Tonka running. Tonka stopped, probably about to return home, and the man shot and killed Tonka with a cross bow,’ Mongno wrote in a Facebook post.
The hunter, Romeo Antonuccio, was charged with careless discharge and damage of property.
Antonuccio, who is not from the area, told authorities he was trying to shoot deer from a tree stand and thought Tonka was a coyote.
Mongno said her two children were devastated over their beloved dog’s death. He was off chasing a deer when he was shot dead
The hunter who killed Tonka has been charged with careless discharge and damage of property. He told police he thought Tonka was a coyote
Mongno said Tonka was wearing two collars so the hunter would have known he was not a coyote.
‘It all happened so fast, but I was so loudly calling him home, other neighbors, from further away could hear,’ she said.
‘Our hearts are completely broken, we devastated. I will never forgive myself for letting him get away from me. My poor kids couldn’t be more broken, especially my nine-year-old.
‘Tonka put so many smiles on so many faces. His lovable, goofy personality made everyone around him happy. He was truly a one of a kind dog and we will miss him so much.
‘Never in a million years did I think that this could happen.’
Tonka (above with one of her nine-year-old owners) was found about 50 feet from the family’s property line. He had been shot in the heart with an arrow.
The family said their hearts were broken over Tonka’s death and they are still coming to terms with it