Why would Talmadge neighbor fire BBs at a small dog?

Beth Smith noticed her terrier-and-chihuahua mix, Pebbles, barking and yelping more than usual last week. On August 12, she reached out to us on our mid-city neighborhood online forum: "My neighbors have been shooting my dog from their apartment. [Pebbles is] pretty small and the BBs they've been shooting at her do a lot of damage because she's tiny. I haven't been able to find who's been doing this."

On August 14, Smith — who lives in Talmadge, about a mile east of the I-15 and El Cajon exit — requested I change her name for this article.

"I've seen the type; the BB gun shooter is up to no good," Mike Mitchell from Allied Gardens said to me on August 15. "It really irks me that they will hurt an animal; thank God they didn't shoot the pup in the eye. Harming animals is a key trait in serial killers."

The Humane Society's website corroborates Mitchell's assessment. "Intentional cruelty to animals is strongly correlated with other crimes, including violence against people."

Smith said she contacted the local humane society, animal control, and the San Diego Police Department. "I'm being told they cannot help me or take action until I film the person who's doing it." Smith's husband, a Navy personal, camped out in the backyard in hopes of catching a glimpse of the BB-gun shooter. Smith direct-messaged me a photo of a BB found in the dirt of their backyard; she then updated the online PSA with an image depicting what appears to be a welt on Pebble's skin underneath her off-white, silver, and black-spotted fur.

"We have found what apartment the person lives at, and now we are trying to track down the tenant," Smith continued as she put up a photo of an apartment window. The picture which depicted a second-floor vantage point was pulled down hours after — with good reason.

"I think her going alone is dangerous," CC from the College area keyed in. "I have promised two people I love not to get physically involved in this in a way that could result in violence, and I apologize if that comes off as insincere cowardice, but if anyone close by would like to accompany her, it might prevent this situation from getting even worse. She has asked for this accompaniment in another post."

Smith's online post garnered over two hundred responses in two days, with a handful of neighbors offering assistance by purchasing and installing cameras in Smith's backyard. Per a La Mesa resident: "[I] had this happen to my dog, then the neighbor went to spraying her with bear spray. [The] police said to put cameras up, so we did and caught him in action. He was spoken to and have not had any problems since."

Smith said her husband would install cameras soon.

Lili Geyelin has three terrier-chi doggies, the same mixed breed as Pebbles. Geyelin said in an August 15 interview that she worried about her former East College neighbors possibly throwing poison over their shared fence — as another person reportedly did in Morley Field in 2018. "My neighbor at the time said something like, 'We are considering a BB gun or worse.' and that sent me a message."

Someone who lives close to Geyelin commented on the BB-gun thread, "Does your dog bark and annoy your neighbors? I hate dogs .... barking, whining rat dogs."

"There are certain people that don't like animals, period," Geyelin continued, "so it wouldn't be anything to them to hurt an animal. And then there are the really sick ones who get off on it. So if I were in [Smith's] place, I would not look for that person at all, the cops, yes, but not me."

Ramsey H. works out at the YMCA gym on El Cajon Boulevard, two blocks west of Smith's neighborhood. "Some of the streets and alleys here are not safe. So [Smith] needs to be careful and bring many people if they confront the shooter.

"Not too long ago, my relatives received a notice from the [Code Compliance - County of San Diego division] about their pooches constantly barking. It takes a couple of neighbors to get the city involved in noise complaints. In my honest opinion, getting the city involved, although some might label you a 'Karen,' is the better way to address annoying furbabies that are probably all alone at home."

"People are complaining based on the laws in place," said FG from Hillcrest. "People have the right to ask for civil code enforcement. People who keep animals of any kind in the city are responsible for respecting the civil code. And when multiple people complain, the city takes it seriously. And when a dog barks constantly from sunup to late into the night, it's a violation of the civic code."