Locel women pleads ‘no contest’

Former owner of ‘Thunder the Wonder Dog’ to be sentenced on Dec. 2 to charges that she shot the German shepherd

The former owner of a dog affectionately known as “Thunder the Wonder Dog” pleaded “no contest” this week to charges that she shot the German shepherd late last year, the Mendocino County District Attorney’s Office reported.

According to Mike Geniella, spokesman for DA David Eyster, Katie Rhiannon Smith, 34, of Caspar, “decided to forgo a jury trial this week and enter a no- contest plea to felony animal abuse,” a charge related to the shooting in December 2019 of a dog he said has come to be known as “Thunder the Wonder Dog: The Cone Dog from the Woods.”

Geniella said Thunder was “an injured and abused canine found wandering in a Mendocino coastal forest in December 2019 and rescued by concerned citizens, and it was later determined by a veterinarian that Thunder was suffering from gunshot wounds, dehydration, and malnutrition.”

By entering her plea this week, Geniella said that “Smith admitted that she maliciously and intentionally maimed, mutilated, tortured, or wounded a living animal.”

She now faces up to three years in county jail and a fine of up to $20,000.

Smith is scheduled to be sentenced in the Fort Bragg court, 700 S. Franklin Street, on Dec. 2. Geniella notes that “any interested member of the community who would like to weigh in on this matter, make respectful comment, and/or urge a particular outcome may send a letter no later than Nov. 18 to: Mendocino County Adult Probation Department, Re: Thunder the Wonder Dog, 700 S. Franklin, Rm. 107, Fort Bragg, CA 95437.