A Fellsmere man was arrested last Sunday on animal cruelty charges following an incident where he shot and killed his neighbor’s hog using an AR-15 rifle. The hog had been rummaging through his trash.
The individual, 42-year-old Michell Alan Gens, told deputies that he was allowed to shoot “nuisance animals.” He recounted that upon seeing the hog on his property, he retrieved his AR-15 rifle and shot the animal in the hip area. The wounded hog returned to its pen on the owner’s property.
However, Gens didn’t stop there. He confronted the hog’s owner and expressed his intention to kill the animal. Feeling intimidated by Gens, who was still armed with the AR-15, the hog’s owner reluctantly permitted him to proceed. Gens then went to the hog’s pen and fired eight more shots at the animal.
The deputies who arrived at the scene found the hog deceased in its pen, with three gunshot wounds in its hip, belly, and side rib cage.
For his actions, Gens was charged with Felony Aggravated Animal Cruelty, which includes inflicting pain, serious physical injury, or death to an animal. He was taken to the Indian River County Jail, and his bail was set at $1,000.
