More From The Bizarro World Of Dog People

I have to reproduce this article in its entirety here, because, well, read it and you'll see:

MANCHESTER – Adam Lamotte, a Manchester man who turned himself in to police yesterday for shooting his dog, says he "made a terrible mistake" when he decided to euthanize the animal himself instead of taking him to a vet.

Lamotte, 39, is charged with one felony count of animal cruelty, which carries a possible sentence of 3 1/2 to seven years in prison, according to Auburn police. Lamotte's 5-year-old pit bull, Buster, was found Thursday afternoon, tied to a tree and dying from gunshot wounds in a wooded area off the Route 28 bypass in Auburn.

Lamotte was released on $5,000 personal recognizance bail. An arraignment is scheduled in Candia District Court on April 7.

Lamotte, who works in maintenance, yesterday said the tan and white dog he'd raised from a pup was "the greatest dog in the world."

Buster always slept in bed with Lamotte and his wife. "He had to be covered up and everything or he'd whine," he said. "He was a big baby."

But about a year ago, Buster started going after family members when they started to leave the house. "He would basically attack us, try to grab our ankles or our hands or whatever," he said. "We had to lock him in a room if we knew somebody was leaving."

About a month ago, Buster bit Lamotte's wrist, sending him to the emergency room for stitches. He brought the dog to a vet, who diagnosed the animal with separation anxiety, and put him on the anti-anxiety medication Clomicalm.

A few nights ago, Lamotte said, Buster went after Lamotte's 17-year-old son, tearing his pant leg off. Lamotte said he worried what would happen if the dog went after his 10-year-old daughter. "I couldn't take that chance."

He decided to put Buster down himself. The 78-pound dog was afraid of veterinarians, Lamotte said. "And, I don't know, in my warped thinking, I thought I was doing the right thing."

"It sounds absurd but somehow it was better, me doing it."

Around 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Lamotte said, he took Buster to the trails on Manchester Water Works property, a favorite spot for the two of them, and let him run for a while off-leash.

Then he called the dog to him and shot him in the head with a handgun. But Buster didn't die. "He didn't make a sound. He just looked at me," he said. "It was terrible."

He fired the gun two more times but isn't sure whether he hit the dog. "I've never shot anything in my life."

Then, he said, "I just panicked."

"I didn't know what to do. I tied him to a tree and left."

Lamotte said he believed Buster was dying when he left him.

Early yesterday morning, Lamotte went to a drugstore for coffee and the newspaper and saw his dead dog's photo on the front page of The New Hampshire Union Leader. And he learned that the dog had lived through the night, tied to the tree, and had to be put down by the Auburn animal control officer.

"That was horrible. I can't even describe it," he said.

Lamotte called Auburn police and turned himself in.

He also had to face telling his wife what he'd done; he had told the family he had taken Buster to a vet to be euthanized. He still hasn't told his three kids the truth.

Lamotte called what he did "the biggest regret of my life."

"I should have went to the vet and just had him euthanized," he said.

"I wasn't trying to be cruel to my dog. I know that doesn't make any sense, but it's true. I wasn't trying to leave him tied to a tree all night. That wasn't what I set out to do."

"He's my dog. And we loved him."

It's just got to be a three-way toss-up as to this story's most INSANE element:

1) The fact that a guy could face time for euthanizing a demonstrably vicious and dangerous beast.

2) That, had he NOT put it down, he could well have been facing prison the next time it bit someone.

3) Or is this guy himself, the laughing stock of the story? He slept with the dog, loved it, got mauled by it, couldn't kill it with a gun, AND is palpably guilt-ridden over the whole ordeal!!!

Much thanks to Kfell for this cornucopia of laughs.

As always, click here for my master link of deranged dog people.