A family is devastated after their pet dog was shot dead at close range on the northwest Avalon.

Bandit—a four-year-old malamute—broke free from his tether Sunday evening in Red Head Cove next to Bay de Verde. About 60 people live in the community.

Sarah Mitchell, whose boyfriend owned Bandit, says he was shot in darkness on property belonging to a man who claims he thought he fired at a coyote that had killed his ducks.

Bandit is black and white according to Mitchell, and was wearing a brand new blue collar.

She described him as friendly to the point where he was scared of cats. She says Bandit was so afraid of noise that had the property owner fired a warning shot, he would have fled. She also says the dog was well-known in the area.

Mitchell says something isn’t adding up about the situation. She questions how the man couldn’t see the dog wearing a bright blue collar.

The owner has filed a complaint with RCMP Trinity-Conception detachment.