Animal cruelty

Chained Dog Shot Dead in Vermont Yard, Couple Arrested

Twenty illegal firearms were seized at the couple's Sandgate home, state police say

Vermont State Police

After a dog was found shot dead outside a Vermont home on Thursday, its owners are now facing numerous charges including animal cruelty, according to state police.

Troopers were called to a home on Wilcox Hollow Road in Sandgate where they said a large dog was chained up outside and suffering from two gunshot wounds. Police said the troopers tried saving the dog but were unsuccessful.

Initially, the homeowners, Joyce Cornell, 45, and Scott Cornell, 50, would not come to the door and speak with police, according to police.

Joyce Cornell later went outside and told police she fired two shots at the dog with a revolver from inside the home and while the dog was chained up. Police said she told them numerous times that her husband was not inside the home.

Officers later located Scott Cornell inside the home with numerous loaded firearms, which he is not allowed to have due to a prior felony conviction, police said.

After a search warrant was granted, police said, they later found 20 illegally firearms which they seized.

The couple was then arrested and ordered held without bail pending their arraignment Friday afternoon in Bennington Superior Court.

Joyce Cornell is facing charges of aggravated cruelty to animals and false information to law enforcement. Scott Cornell is facing 20 counts of prohibited possession of a firearm.

It's unclear if they have attorneys.

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