A Grovetown man charged with killing a neighbor’s dog claims that the unleashed pet approached him in his back yard and growled. The arrest follows a grand jury’s decision that shooting the animal was cruel.
Harvey Rock, 52, of Grovetown, was charged last month with aggravated cruelty to animals. The charges stemmed from an August 2024 incident in which Rock admitted to shooting a 3-year-old black Labrador named Milo after it allegedly approached him in an aggressive manner.
According to the Grovetown Police Department, officers responded to a call on Aug. 21 regarding the shooting of a dog on Swinton Pond Road. Upon arrival, police spoke with Bianca Rodriguez, the dog’s owner, who explained that she believed the dog had been shot by a neighbor. She found the pet underneath a truck parked in front of 173 Swinton Pond Road in a puddle of blood but still breathing.
A blood trail led from the dog to the backyard of 145 Swinton Pond Road, where the pet owner lived. While following the blood trail, an officer located two men working two houses down in the backyard of 137 Swinton Pond Road and asked if they had heard gunfire.
“I shot that dog,” Rock said.
The neighbor said he and the other man were working in the backyard of their residence when the dog approached them and began to growl and snarl its teeth at them. The dog was unleashed and roaming the neighborhood, he said.
“Harvey Rock stated the dog aggressed towards them twice, at which point he pushed the dog and retreated into the home,” a report says. “Harvey Rock then stated he retrieved his Smith and Wesson M&P 9mm from inside his residence, walked back outside, and fired one shot at the dog, striking it in the upper neck area.”
Rock said the dog was not leashed and was free roaming around the neighborhood. The officer noted that he didn’t see any blood in the yard of Harvey Rock’s backyard.
“I asked Harvey Rock why he did not call the police or animal services when he went back into the residence, and he stated that he felt he did not need to because the dog was on his property,” the report says. “I then asked Harvey Rock why he did not call the police after he discharged his firearm at the dog. He stated that he did not feel like he needed to do that either. Harvey Rock also did not make any attempt to track the wounded animal or contact anyone regarding the animal.”
The officer noted that there had not been any calls for service regarding a nuisance dog, aggressive dog, or loose dog from this residence or at 137 Swinton Pond Road. There have not been any calls to Columbia County Animal Control either.
The dog later died at Blue Pearl Animal Hospital. The case was forwarded to the Columbia County District Attorney’s Office for a DA review, and a grand jury debated the case before choosing to indict Rock on Oct. 17. That led to Rock’s arrest on Dec. 18.
Rock is free on bond.