WRIGHT CITY, Mo. — A Warren County family says a local contractor spray-painted their dog while marking their yard for utilities.
With their wedding just a few months away, Michael Love and Brittany Kohlmann know they need to quickly upsize their Wright City home.
“We have four kids and a fifth one on the way,” Michael Love said. “We’re looking to expand and get bigger.”
Before breaking ground on a new addition, they called a contractor.
“Flagging everything is the start of any project so you know where your lines are,” Brittany Kohlmann said.
“When they came out the person laying the flags got mad or upset that our dog was barking at her, led our dog behind our fence, and decided to spray paint her in the face,” Love said.
“I thought she got into a bag of Cheetos at first,” said Kohlmann. “Then I realized she had a little bit of a chemical burn and then I realized it was everywhere.”
Kohlmann snapped multiple pictures after cleaning up the pup showing orange paint deep in the fur on the dog’s face and neck area.
“My daughter is 3,” said Kohlmann. “She sleeps with my daughter every single night. Kids don’t understand death, and dogs, and things like that. It could’ve been that serious.”
Kohlmann reported the incident to the Wright City Police in November 2022.
“He said it wasn’t like Judge Judy,” said Kohlmann. “This isn’t the crime of the century. While I understand it’s not the crime of the century, it’s still a crime.”
“When I called the cops later that day they issued a formal apology to us and sent another cop out that finally took the statement and recorded everything,” Love said.
A detective with the Wright City Police Department told 5 On Your Side they’re still investigating these claims of animal abuse and recently identified a suspect.
At this time no charges have been filed.
“Animal cruelty is not something to be taken lightly,” Kohlmann said. “I do hope it’s punished harshly.”
“I just want to know it’s not going to happen again,” Love said. "No one deserves to go through that.”