Man cited after aiming gun at pit bulls

Authorities say an Otis Orchards man threatened to shoot three neighborhood pit bulls Thursday with an animal control officer in his line of fire.

The 45-year-old man eventually put down his gun, Spokane County sheriff’s deputies said. Shane Moscatelli was cited for reckless endangerment after deputies responded to the home.

The animal control officer, Nicole Montano, walked away shaken but unharmed.

The pit bulls were taken to the Spokane County Regional Animal Protection Services’ (SCRAPS) shelter while the owner is located.

“To this moment she (Montano) cannot believe the man didn’t fire the gun. Everything about his body language said he was going to,” said SCRAPS Director Nancy Hill. “It’s a miracle he didn’t pull the trigger, just a miracle. I am just in disbelief.”

Montano responded to 20710 E. Gilbert Ave., about 11:30 a.m. Thursday on a report of three loose pit bulls scratching at a woman’s back door.

When she arrived the three dogs were in Moscatelli’s fenced back yard at 20715 E. Crown Ave., Hill said. He does not own the three dogs. Animal control officials believe the dogs live nearby.

All three dogs went to Montano when she approached the fence. She kept their attention with doggie treats and called for another animal control officer to help.

Moscatelli arrived home while Montano was waiting. The officer told the man to go inside the house, which he did, after threatening to get his shotgun. He soon returned with a shotgun in his hand and refused to go back inside the house. Montano then called the Sheriff’s Office.

When one of the three dogs started toward Moscatelli, “he raised, pointed and aimed his shot in my direction at the dog,” Montano said in her report. “I yelled, ‘I am in your line of fire, put the gun down and go inside.’ I was approximately 50 feet from Moscatelli.”

Meanwhile, a woman who lives across the street was yelling: “Shoot the dog, just shoot the dog,” the whole time, Hill said.

About that time, the second animal control officer arrived, Hill said. Deputies followed close behind.

“We cannot have this in our community,” Hill said. “People cannot do vigilante justice. There was no reason for this individual to go into the house and get a gun.”