DANVILLE -- Suzanne Thomas of the Danville area says she shot and killed a Labrador Retriever because the dog killed one of her pet rabbits. Thomas admitted she tied the dog to a tree and shot her three times in the head, but Thomas says there was nothing malicious about what she did.
"The dog killed. It was a killer breed. It should have never been off its leash. It should have been muzzled or tied up," Thomas said.
Suzanne Thomas kept her face hidden, even as she drove away from the Montour County Courthouse. Thomas pleaded guilty to shooting and killing a dog back in January -- a one and a half year old Labrador Retriever named Georgia.
"For her to be labeled by this lady as a vicious dog doesn't make sense at all," Georgia's owner, James White said.
James White and his family live down the street from Suzanne Thomas near Danville. Back in January, Georgia wandered on to Thomas's property.
Thomas admitted to tying Georgia up to a tree on her property and then shooting the dog in the head three times because she says Georgia killed one of her rabbits.
"That dog terrorized every rabbit in my cage. It went around to every cage and terrorized them," Thomas said.
"So you believe the shooting was justified? The dog killed my rabbit, yes! The dog killed," Thomas said.
James White disagrees. He says Georgia never hurt another animal.
"We have cats. She never hurt the cats, she always played with the cats and the cats played with her," White said.
White says Georgia was so gentle he was going to train her to be a therapy dog.
"Was just a loving dog. Played with the kids, slept with the kids. Slept on my lap in the lazy-boy chair all the time," White said.
Suzanne Thomas is scheduled to be sentenced at a later date. She faces a maximum of five years in jail, and a $10,000 fine for shooting and killing her neighbor's dog.