LAS VEGAS (KLAS) – People living in the east Las Vegas valley shared their shock after police said a man shot and killed a dog inside a kennel.
“You never know who you have behind you,” Zulma Pleitez said. “As a neighbor.”
Pleitez was one of several who spoke with 8 News Now about what they called a startling case of animal cruelty.
“It’s pretty scary, especially in this area,” Pleitez added. “He was telling me that it’s very quiet.”
The shooting happened around 11:15 p.m. on Wednesday in a home near Bonanza Avenue and Sloan Avenue, according to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
Kevin Hoskins, 34, faces multiple felony charges, including one count of willful, malicious torture or killing of an animal and 13 counts of discharging a gun in a prohibited area.
Officers said Hoskins shot the dog multiple times while it was inside a kennel. Detectives learned Hoskins was “upset” with the dog and had made past threats to kill it.
Other people in the home tried to intervene and remove the dog before the shooting happened, according to police.
“I have found that there was probable cause for your arrest,” Las Vegas Judge Holly Stoberski told Hoskins during his initial appearance Friday. “With charges rising out of willful or malicious torture or killing of an animal.”
Records show Hoskins also has a criminal history, therefore, Judge Stoberski set his bail at $263,000 Friday.
In 2017, he faced a charge of murder with a deadly weapon in Las Vegas, records said. Hoskins told police he shot a man in self-defense when that man tried to get into his apartment.
Several months after the arrest, prosecutors dropped the case over that self-defense claim, according to documents.
In 2014, Hoskins was charged with aiming a gun at another person, according to records. A judge later reduced that charge to disorderly conduct and ordered Hoskins to complete impulse control training.
Records show he completed the counseling, and the case was closed.
In this most recent situation, those who spoke with 8 News Now said they were upset to hear any animal suffered.
“They can’t speak,” Pleitez said. “So they only have us as a human to take care of them.”
However, Pleitez added that she was glad to know that the authorities had taken real action.
“I’m glad the animal control is taking seriously,” she concluded. “All these situations.”
Hoskins is expected back in court on April 29, when a judge could readdress his bail.
