WILLIAMSPORT - A deer hunter from South Hanover Township is charged with animal cruelty after shooting a Siberian Husky, then not providing aid to the wounded dog.
The incident occurred as Gerald E. Laudermilch Jr., 39, of the first block of West Main St., was hunting in the Brookside area of northern Lycoming County. He has been issued a summons to appear before a district judge on March 20 on two counts of cruelty to animals.
Laudermilch told investigators he mistook the 18-month old dog owned by Richard and Julie Emert for a coyote.
Lawrence D. Woltz, a humane officer for the Lycoming County SPCA who filed the charges, questions how the huskie, named Juno, could be mistaken for a coyote because he said it was wearing a bright orange collar and there was snow on the ground.
A neighbor told Woltz that Juno tagged, as it often does, when she walked her dog in a field in a partially wooded area near hunting cabins about 3:30 p.m. Dec. 29.
Juno had run ahead and down an embankment to a stream when the woman heard gun shot and laughter from a cabin, the arrest affidavit states.
State police the next day interviewed Kevin Trowbridge of Hummelstown, who was deer hunting with Laudermilch, and he told them he also thought the dog was a coyote, the affidavit states.
Laudermilch admitted firing a shot with a .50 caliber carbine and claimed he did not see the orange collar, the charges state.
The dog suffered a deep back wound that required immediate medical attention, but it is recovering, Woltz said.
Editor's note: This story was changed to correct the hometown of the accused hunter, and the first name of his hunting companion.