BRISTOL — A 5-year-old dog is recovering from a gunshot wound above his right eye and a local man is being charged with felony animal cruelty after shooting the dog on its owner's lawn last week, police said.

Michael Nelson, 36, a resident of Pike's Point Road, has been charged with cruelty to animals, a class B felony punishable by three-and-a-half to seven years in jail, and criminal mischief, a misdemeanor, for allegedly shooting the Australian shepherd mix named Tucker.

Tucker, who is owned by Michael and Lynne Furey of Pasadena, Md., and who were staying at their summer cottage several houses away from Nelson's home, is recovering from a bullet that entered his head above the right eye and left the skull through his right ear, and then hit the dog's rear right paw, said Lynne Furey.

The dog is suffering from a neurological problem and has trouble keeping its balance, and its paw had to be amputated, Furey said.

Nelson, who was not reachable for comment, told police he was acting in self-defense when he shot the dog on the Fureys' lawn about 3:30 p.m. Friday as the Fureys and several friends sat inside their home, according to Detective Sgt. Timothy Woodward.

“He claimed it was self-defense, that the dog had come to his yard and wouldn't stop barking, so he chased the dog to the owner's home and pulled out his gun and shot the dog in the head,” Woodward said.

Nelson legally owned the gun, a 9 mm pistol, Woodward said. But police charged him with a felony after the investigation showed his actions were not warranted.

“If his life had been threatened or even minimally in danger, it might have been justified,” Woodward said. “If this was a 100 pound Rottweiler, you might be able to understand it. But this was a 50-55 pound dog. He could have taken any number of other actions.”

The Fureys, who don't know Nelson, were sitting with friends when they heard Tucker barking and then heard a gunshot, Lynne Furey said.

“My husband came from one side of the house and I came from the other, and we see this man with a gun and our dog is rolling around in a pool of blood,” she said. “Of course we thought he was dying.”

Nelson looked at the Fureys and told them to call the police. “He said, 'I just shot your dog,'” she said. “He said something like, 'He was coming for me so I shot him.'”

The Fureys rushed Tucker to an animal hospital in Plymouth. It was recommended that the dog be taken to a Boston veterinary hospital.

He still has a neurological disorder as the result of the gunshot wound, but is expected to make a full recovery in the coming months, Lynne Furey said.

The couple is shocked by the shooting.

“He followed my dog with a loaded gun to our private property and shot him,” she said.

dseufert@newstote.com