Summerville Man Arrested After Shooting Neighbor’s Dog Over Chickens

A Summerville man was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals after allegedly shooting his neighbor’s dog.

According to an incident report from the Summerville Police Department, officers were dispatched on a report of a neighbor shooting a resident’s dog.

Upon arrival, Officer Shannon Goins met with Kalya Gilreath, who showed officers video footage of a white male pulling a brown-colored dog from the carport and out of the frame of the camera. A short while later, a gunshot can be heard on the video.

Gilreath told officers that her neighbor, Cory Layne, had come to their residence earlier that day, rang the doorbell, and spoke with her significant other. According to Gilreath, Layne advised that their dog had killed some of his chickens and stated he was going to kill the dog. The video showed Layne then carried out that threat.

Officers then went to Layne’s residence to speak with him about the incident. Upon explaining the reason for their presence, both Layne and his wife expressed surprise.

Layne explained that he and Gilreath had been friends for some time before the incident. He said there had been an ongoing problem with Gilreath’s dog killing his chickens and claimed there was an understanding with Gilreath that if her dog killed any more of his chickens, he would kill the dog.

Layne stated that he observed the dog kill two of his chickens and then run away. He said he then went to Gilreath’s residence and killed the dog. When referencing his past statements to Gilreath, Layne told officers, “I’m a man of my word.”

Layne was placed under arrest and transported to the Chattooga County Jail, where he was charged with cruelty to animals.

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