Police in Satsuma were searching for suspects in October 2014 after a beloved family dog was fatally shot, a case that drew a $5,000 reward from the Humane Society of the United States and struck a nerve in the close-knit Mobile County community.
The dog, a two-year-old Louisiana Catahoula leopard cur named Si, was deaf — and so was her owner, Tabitha Venable. Satsuma Police Chief McLean said Venable discovered Si unresponsive when she returned home on Oct. 14. Veterinarians determined the dog had been shot with a small-caliber gun, and Si died during surgery.
A community reacts
Chief McLean described the killing as especially painful for a town that prides itself on its affection for animals.
“We are a dog loving community,” McLean said. “It’s doubly tragic that the deaf dog was rescued by a deaf woman who dearly loved it.”
The detail that both the dog and her owner were deaf gave the case an added layer of heartbreak. Si had been a rescue, and the bond between the two had made her loss all the more devastating for Venable.
The investigation and the reward
The Satsuma Police Department opened an investigation and asked anyone with information to contact Satsuma police dispatch at (251) 675-0151.
The Humane Society of the United States stepped in with a $5,000 reward for information leading to the apprehension of whoever was responsible. Mindy Gilbert, the organization’s Alabama director, framed the shooting as a serious crime deserving of a full response.
“This dog was someone’s companion and the senseless killer needs to be brought to justice,” Gilbert said. “We hope our reward leads authorities to the person responsible for this terrible crime.”
Animal cruelty under scrutiny
The case underscored how seriously law enforcement and animal-welfare groups had come to treat acts of cruelty against pets. Under Alabama law, the deliberate killing of a companion animal can carry significant penalties, and the involvement of a national organization like the Humane Society reflected a growing willingness to devote resources to solving such cases.
For residents of Satsuma, a small city north of Mobile, the shooting was a jarring intrusion on the sense of security that draws families to a community of its size. The plea from police and the reward from the Humane Society signaled a shared determination to identify those responsible and to make clear that violence against a family pet would not be brushed aside.
As the investigation continued, Venable was left to grieve a companion that had been more than a pet — a rescued dog who, like her owner, navigated the world without sound, and whose loss reverberated well beyond a single household in Satsuma.