Billboard rewarding $10,000 for justice of shot dog

CATSKILL, N.Y. (NEWS10) -A Great Pyrenees German Shepherd named Kolija was shot on a neighboring property of And-Hof Animal Sanctuary on New Year’s Day. A billboard off 9W in the village of Catskill is advertising a $10,000 reward for anyone who gives information leading to the arrest of the person who shot the rescue dog.

The owner of Kolija and president of And-Hof, Kurt Andernach, says animal cruelty often goes unnoticed. “Whether it’s your little canary, or your horse, donkey, or dog, whatever. Animal abuse is not acceptable.”

The dog sustained a severe injury to the right rear leg and a broken pelvis and femur from a gunshot wound. $14,000 was raised for Kolija’s surgery.

The reward and billboard were put up with the help of Animal Nation, Humane Long Island, Hudson Valley Animal Rescue and Sanctuary, and Hyer Ground Rescue. The founder of Hyer Ground, Jamie Mitchell, also works in healthcare and says there is a direct link between animal cruelty and human violence.

“We need to be able to identify in our community who has propensity to violence and those at-risk who are the elderly, children, and animals,” said Mitchell.

Andernach described his bond with Kolija has grown immensely since caring for him. Every day, Kurt has to change the wrapping to prevent infection with sprays and ointments.

“I’m very happy to report that by now he’s actually putting weight on his hind leg and he’s able to take longer walks now,” stated Andernach.

Kolija is one of more than 300 rescue animals at the sanctuary. Part of his stay includes venturing freely onto neighboring properties. The Department of Environmental Conservation and New York State Police traced a trail of Kolija’s blood back to one of them. Andernach said that neighbor has had trespassers before and they now have a way to hold them accountable.

“We all agreed that we need to install trail cameras. Meaning, that we can monitor the activities in the forest,” stated Andernach.

Kolija still has another four to five months to recover. State Police are the lead agency for this ongoing investigation. The DEC has completed its investigation.