Man charged after dog shot multiple times
Jun. 29—DANVERS — A Danvers man is being held without bail on animal cruelty and firearms charges after police say he shot his dog seven or eight times, killing it, after the dog bit him Saturday evening.
Michael Sirois, 54, of 16 Delaware Ave., will remain in custody until at least Wednesday, when a hearing is scheduled on a request to detain him as a dangerous person pending trial.
Police went to the home shortly before 8 p.m. Saturday in response to calls about shots being fired.
Sirois was described as being "agitated" when police arrived. Officers ordered him at gunpoint to come out of the home with his hands up, a prosecutor said. It was only after a third officer arrived that Sirois complied.
Sirois was bleeding from wounds on his arm. He told officers that his dog, an Akita named Kuma, started biting him and wouldn't stop until he shot it. He appeared in court Monday with bandages on his right arm.
Witnesses told a different story, however, saying that the dog had gotten into a fight with a neighbor's dog. Sirois separated the dogs, then flung Kuma over his shoulder, upside down, and carried the dog toward his house, when Kuma bit him.
Witnesses told police that Sirois then put the dog on a leash on the back patio, went inside the home, then came out with a 9 mm handgun and shot the dog seven or eight times, prosecutor Haleigh Reisman told a judge Monday during Sirois's arraignment.
Police found that gun on a patio table outside. They asked Sirois if he had any other guns, and he told them there was one other gun inside a buffet cabinet inside the home.
Sirois also told officers that he was in the process of renewing his license to carry firearms, which expired last month. But police later learned that he had not yet begun that process.
In addition to the animal cruelty charge, Sirois is facing charges of discharging a firearm within 500 feet of a dwelling, improper storage of a firearm and possessing a firearm during a felony. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Reisman told Judge Robert Brennan that a detective was taking the dog to the Tufts veterinary hospital in Grafton for a necropsy on Monday. She asked for additional time to collect reports from all of the officers at the scene, witness statements and photos.
Lawyer Sean Wynne, who represented Sirois only for the arraignment, said his client had posted $5,000 bail over the weekend and was prepared to take part in a detention hearing immediately.
Brennan, however, granted the prosecutor's request, ordering Sirois to be taken into custody in the courtroom. He'll be held at the Middleton Jail until Wednesday's hearing.
Courts reporter Julie Manganis can be reached at 978-338-2521, by email at jmanganis@salemnews.com or on Twitter at @SNJulieManganis.
