OTTAWA -- Neighbours say they don't condone it but understand why someone allegedly shot a dog with a crossbow.

Francis Perron-Mineault, 30, is out on $2,000 bail after being charged for shooting the animal on Valentine's Day.

Val-des-Monts, QC, police found the boxer dog and said it appeared to have been shot "at point-blank range" behind a house on Perineault St.

The dog still managed to make its way home but later died.
According to neighbours and police sources, there isn't a whole lot of affection for the dog on the short street.

Though nobody had ever called cops about the animal, there were a number of complaints made to animal control.

"A lot of people in the neighbourhood are not OK with the act but we understand why it was done," neighbour Melanie Parisien said.

She said the dog often came to her home and she saw it running loose "many times."

"I nearly hit it with my car," she said.

She said she was worried about letting her children play outside because of the dog.

"It ran after everything," she said.

It was the dog's owners who noticed their pet had an arrow sticking out of its chest and called police.

The male dog was taken to an animal hospital in Ottawa, where surgery was performed. The dog died later that day.

A court order forbids Perron-Mineault from contacting the dog's owner.