A Plattsmouth man was arrested Monday for shooting and killing a neighbor's 200-pound Rottweiler. He claims self-defense, but the owner says it was a cold-blooded crime.

Forty-two-year-old Leon Gehrig Sr. faces charges of animal cruelty, use of a weapon and criminal trespassing for killing the pet with a .22-caliber rifle just after 6:30 a.m. at 8th Street and Avenue G.

It wasn't a bark, but a dog's cry that startled neighbor Tim Endelicato. “A loud bang and then I heard her yelp."

In the pre-dawn hours, Tim looked for his neighbor's dog Maggie and followed a blood trail to the Rottweiler lying in the corner of the pet's own yard. “Blood coming out of the side of her, she wasn't moving and I knew she was dead."

Gehrig told police he shot the dog to protect his own pet. “But we had no evidence that a fight had ever occurred or that the dog was over on his property," says Plattsmouth Police Officer Ryan Crick.

The dead dog's owner, who wasn't home at the time, disputes his neighbors claim. “You can't justify that as self-defense,” says Richard Sweet. “She's in her own yard, he shoots her right there, I mean come on. Heartless, that's all it is, heartless.”

Gehrig is free on a signature bond and nobody answered his door on Tuesday.

The Endelicatos live two houses away and own the daughter of the shot Rottweiler. Tim and Geraldine are now concerned about having their pets in the back yard without someone watching them.

“Can't leave her out, you don't know if she's gonna get shot in her own back yard,” says Tim. “I'm not letting anyone hurt her."

Sweet says the shooting of his dog in his own yard is another loss on his family. “I'm losing my house and then I lose my dog, it's not right, it's not fair."

Before moving, Sweet will have to clean blood off his son's scooter, but a toy isn't like a family dog for a boy to play with growing up.

If convicted, Gehrig could receive a year in jail for misdemeanor animal cruelty. A deputy county attorney says a felony charge would only apply if there's evidence an animal has been tortured repeatedly and that does not fit the facts in this case.