posted June 22, 2017 06:55 AM            

Alan Smith wasn’t sure that’s the way it would turn out after his longtime pet — a 10-year-old border collie and golden retriever mix — was shot April 30 by a Fort Worth school board candidate’s husband while they were campaigning in the neighborhood.

But after more than a month, and a vet bill of nearly $2,500, “he’s OK, hasn’t slowed down a bit,” Smith said.

Pedro Juarez Jr., husband of former Fort Worth school board candidate Pilar Candia, has been charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon and is scheduled to appear in court July 6, court and police records show.

Smith has received two citations from the city for having unrestrained animals.

News of the shooting took Facebook by storm as an issue in the May 6 Fort Worth school board election.

Some Facebook posts began popping up in support of Candia’s opponent, stating: “Vote for Ashley Paz. She promises not to shoot your dog.”

Candia, who served as district director for former City Councilman Sal Espino, texted Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald about the incident, saying it was “an emergency,” public records show.

The two exchanged text messages about the shooting and later talked on the telephone about it. In a text, Candia noted that “unfortunately now they are trying to make it political and unfair,” public documents show.

Espino recently posted a note about Candia on Facebook, thanking her for her dedication to the city and for her work for his council office.

“Recently, some folks unfairly took issue with Pilar because she ran for public office,” he posted on Facebook. “It takes much courage to put yourself out there to the public.”

Paz easily retained her seat on the board, garnering 58 percent of the votes.

‘An unleashed dog’
Juarez said he and his family were walking in the 2900 block of Meadowbrook Drive the day of the shooting when “an unleashed dog came running down the driveway toward him and his family,” according to an arrest warrant affidavit in the case.

It is a Class C misdemeanor for a dog owner “to fail to keep the animal in an adequate enclosure” that is designed “to prevent any domestic animal from escaping from the area” and “to isolate the animal from the public ... ,” according to Fort Worth City Code.

“Pedro stated that as the dog got closer, he feared the dog was becoming aggressive,” the affidavit stated. “Pedro then fired one shot from his 9 mm handgun that he had concealed in his waistband at the dog, hitting the dog near his head.”

Afterward, the dog “limped back” toward the back of the house and survived; Juarez and his family waited for the police, who secured the firearm while conducting the investigation, the report states.

In May, Juarez, 35, was charged with unlawfully carrying a weapon, a Class A misdemeanor that carries a sentence of up to a year in jail and a $4,000 fine.

He told the Star-Telegram that he has hired an attorney and has no comment at this time.

Juarez’s version was documented by police.

Juarez told police he doesn’t have a license to carry a gun and “he believed that since the law for open carry passed, he was no longer required to have a license to carry,” the affidavit stated.

‘My heart was racing’
Smith said he was in his neighbor’s back yard, barbecuing, when he heard a shot late in the afternoon on April 30.

Then Duncan ran into the back yard — and a neighbor’s son said the dog had been shot.

“He was bleeding profusely from the head,” Smith said, adding that he took his dog to the front yard and saw Juarez there and was told he was the one who shot Duncan.

“I went out and confronted the man and I said a few ugly things to him. Unbeknownst to me, it was in front of his children who were sitting in the back seat of the car, which I regret,” Smith recalled.

Smith, who has had Duncan and his sister, Missy, since birth, said he rushed his pet to an animal hospital, where emergency workers were able to remove several bullet fragments that went into the right side of Duncan’s face, above his upper jawline.

Several teeth were removed and the bullet ended up in his sinus cavity.

After wearing a cone for two weeks and eating soft dog food, Duncan is fine, Smith said.

He said he will never forget how he felt at the time, though.

“I was shocked,” Smith said about the shooting. “My heart was racing.”

Smith said he didn’t realize he was violating city code by not having leashes on his dogs.

“I’m at fault also,” he said. “It’s aggravating, but I have to share responsibility.”

But, he said, Duncan was not a threat.

“The worst thing that might have happened to his children if he hadn’t shot Duncan is that they might have been licked aggressively and maybe abraised by the wagging of tails,” he said. “It was absolutely unnecessary to shoot my dog.”

Anna Tinsley: 817-390-7610, @annatinsley