A Hudson Valley man was arrested after a local dog, a family's pet, was shot to death.

On Wednesday, State Police from Livingston responded to the area of Church Avenue in the Town of Germantown to investigate after a family pet dog was shot and killed.

The dog, an American Pitbull Terrier named Chopper, was transported to the Round Top Animal Hospital in Germantown where an autopsy was conducted.

The autopsy determined that Chopper was killed by multiple pellet wounds from a pellet gun, police say.

The dog went missing on Tuesday and was later found dead by a neighbor.

“I hope they find who did it. And that they have to suffer and feel pain somehow because they just took away a member of our family for no reason. They had no right,” Victoria Kilmer, Chop’s owner, told News 10.

On Thursday, the Bureau of Criminal Investigation at Livingston continued the investigation. The investigation resulted in the arrest of 23-year-old Michael W. Jennings of Germantown.

Jennings was arrested and charged with aggravated cruelty to animals, a felony.

A source close to the dog's family tells Hudson Valley post that Jennings knows the family.

He is set to be arraigned later.

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