Smokey the Pit Bull Shot and Decapitated in Grayling

Six-year-old Smokey the Pit Bull was just a puppy when owner Dan Kelley adopted him into his life. He was Dan's only pet. He was more than a dog. He was family.

Over those years, Kelley has lived in multiple locations including his father's house where Smokey interacted with other dogs, various people and children. According to Kelley's father Ron Lukas, there were never any problems with the dog being aggressive with people or pets. So why then did two alleged suspects, one of whom is reported to be a relative of Kelley's, shoot and decapitate the dog?

One of the suspects has lived with Kelley and his dog Smokey for years and is not known to have had any issues with the dog before this. Lukas said that the two suspects took the dog to an open field, several miles from the dog owner's home. Smokey probably thought he was in for a fun time of running around and playing, but instead he was shot multiple times point-blank, decapitated and buried in a shallow grave without his head.

Three days after the dog was killed, Kelley and his father got the dog's head back and Smokey was able to be buried whole by his family. Area Grayling businesses even donated ice to keep the dog cold so the family could wait a few days before burying Smokey.

Pictures from Dan Kelley's Facebook page

According to Lukas, the suspects wanted to keep the head to boil as a token for Kelley but when the heat was on them and the media learned of the incident, they returned the head to the family by leaving it at the intersection of North Down River Road and Stephan Bridge Road.

Lukas alleges that a possible motive of the dog killing could be the result of a love triangle between a woman, Kelley and one of the suspects. The dog, unfortunately, may have been the one to pay the price in the end.

Although the dog has no history of biting or aggression, according to Lukas, he alleges that at least one of the suspects does have a criminal history.

The suspects have not currently been located. One is believed to be in Alabama working a construction job, according to Lukas, and the other is possibly in the Houghton Lake area.

Lukas has a retired detective working on the case and animal lovers across Grayling, Michigan and the entire country will be watching to see how the Crawford County prosecutor Everette Ayers handles the prosecution of this event in the future.

According to Jill Fritz, Michigan State Director of the Humane Society of the United States, we have a relatively new animal cruelty law in our state that makes it an automatic FELONY charge for deliberately maiming, torturing, or killing an animal. This is found under the Michigan Penal Code 750.50b.

Our hearts go out to Dan and his father, Ron, who had the dog live with him for a while along with his son. It's hard enough to lose a furry friend, but it's even worse when it happens like this.

UPDATE FROM AUGUST 6TH: Suspect turns himself in

UPDATE FROM AUGUST 29TH: First suspect arraigned and second suspect charged