Man enters plea after shooting, killing his dog last year

A Canyon Country man accused of shooting and killing his dog in 2019 submitted a formal plea on Monday in order to avoid six years in prison for the murder of his German shepherd.

Christopher Nard, 57, pleaded no contest to one felony count of cruelty to an animal and admitted to a personal use of a gun allegation, according to Ricardo Santiago, a spokesman for the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office.

In exchange for his plea, Nard would not need to serve the six years in a state prison, but also had to agree to five years of formal probation, Santiago said.

The Canyon Country man was arrested on July 11, 2019, after deputies determined that he had shot and killed his 9-year-old German shepherd named Shiloh with a rifle two days earlier.

At the time of his arrest, law enforcement officers described Nard as “severely depressed.”

On Aug. 9, 2019, Nard entered an original plea of not guilty, only to 11 months later enter his no contest plea.

A no contest plea is treated the same as a guilty plea.

The probationary terms Nard agreed to included 90 days of Caltrans community service and 90 days of community service. He is banned from possessing animals for 10 years, and must complete 48 sessions of animal abuse counseling within two years, Santiago said.

Nard must also continue his mental counseling for another two years, and attend three Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week for the first year of his probation, two per week for the second year and one meeting per week for the remaining three years of his probation.

Nard had a six-year prison term suspended, meaning “that if he violates the terms of this probation, he can be sent to prison to serve that suspended term,” Santiago said.