Lizzi and Rocco

ROSENDALE – Dominica Lizzi of Rosendale is “traumatized” over the shooting death of her two-year-old dog Rocco.

She is a social worker for hospice and the dog was a therapy dog for the terminally ill.

Lizzi and Rocco, a 46 pound Shepherd husky mix, were walking in Rosendale at 12:30 p.m. on January 3 when she said the dog broke free from his leash.

The neighbor who shot the dog told Lizzi, a police officer and Rosendale dog warden that the dog had been chasing a deer and that he was disturbed by the deer’s cries and he had seen the anguish in the deer’s eyes.

Lizzi said she is grieving for her dog. “It’s like losing my baby. This little dog was my baby. I’m heartbroken,” she said. Lizzi has taken a leave from work and is trying to recover. “I am traumatized, not only by the bloody, violent death of my dog, but also by the prospect of nearly been shot the first time when I heard the initial round of shots.”

Ulster County SPCA Executive Director Brian Shapiro called the shooting a “disturbing incident.”

Lizzi said he understands the man who shot the dog has been ticketed, and that an investigation continues.

This is the second case of a dog killing in recent days. On December 28, a Stanfordville man shot and decapitated a dog that he said was aggressive and barking at his brother.