Family devastated after stranger shoots “iconic” dog in front yard of Idaho Falls home
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IDAHO FALLS — A family is heartbroken and searching for answers after their dog Remi was shot and killed in their front yard Tuesday morning.
It happened between 7:15-7:45 a.m. on the 300 block of 13th Street in Idaho Falls where Xavier Desforges lives with his partner.
Desforges tells EastIdahoNews.com the front and back doors of his home were open because he was removing wet carpet from the basement following last week’s storm.
“Remi was in the living room and went outside to check out the yard,” he explains. “She’s a very smart dog – kind, skittish, not aggressive at all and very quiet. She was just chilling out there.”
Desforges went to shower and get ready for work. As he was leaving, he called for Remi but she didn’t come running. The five-year-old Border Collie/Blue Heeler mix never crosses the street and stays in the yard so Desforges became concerned.
“I walked down the porch and over to the driveway where I found her dead,” Desforges says through tears. “There wasn’t any blood and no sign that she had been shot. My companion came outside and she just held her and cried and cried for about five minutes.”
The couple decided to take Remi to the vet. They wrapped her in a blanket and as they went to leave the house, Desforges noticed a man crossing the street from the side of his driveway.
“I realized the guy had a rifle, a long gun, in his hand. I called to him and asked what he was doing with the gun. He said he was taking it to a friend,” Desforges recalls. “I asked him if he shot a dog and he said, ‘Oh God, no, no, no.’ Then he turned around and walked across the street.”
Desforges thought Remi may have been hit by a car and didn’t believe anything nefarious had taken place but the vet soon shared the crushing news: his pet had been shot through the lungs.
Remi was an “icon” in the neighborhood and always with Desforges or his partner. They adopted her as a newborn after learning a litter of puppies had been abandoned at the dump. Desforges’ partner found homes for the other dogs but nobody wanted Remi.
“She had a tumor on the side of her head and was small and very skittish,” Desforges said. “The tumor was removed and she survived. Over the past five years, my partner or I have only been apart from her for only three days when we went on a trip. She rode on bikes with us and went everywhere with us.”
Desforges walked his neighborhood Tuesday night to see if anyone heard a gunshot or had surveillance video of the shooter. Nobody heard anything but Desforges’ doorbell camera did capture the man standing at the edge of the driveway holding a gun.
Idaho Falls Police Department spokeswoman Jessica Clements tells EastIdahoNews.com officers are actively investigating the incident.
“Anyone with information on the shooting or the man in the photo is asked to call the Idaho Falls Police Department at (208) 529-1200,” Clements says.
Desforges wants the shooter caught and brought to justice before something like this happens to someone else.
“This was a gratuitous act. Our dog never barked and kept to herself. People like this usually enjoy this kind of stuff. If he has not done it already, he will do it again and one day he will see a kid in a stroller and decide to shoot the kid in the stroller,” Desforges says. “Maybe one day he’ll see a pregnant woman walking down the street and it will be fun to shoot a pregnant woman in the belly. These guys are sick and if you can stop them early enough, maybe they’ll change the way they think.”