Trial begins for Dover man who shot Oak Orchard companion dog

Witnesses testified Oct. 9 that about two years ago, they saw a Dover man shoot a bouncy Labrador retriever in Oak Orchard. 

“He shot him point blank,” said Brooke Lloyd, a resident of Oak Orchard, testifying in Sussex County Superior Court in Georgetown. 

Lloyd was the second of two witnesses who described seeing Herbert Manley shoot the Labrador named Tank.

The first witness, Charles Hurt, also of Oak Orchard, said he watched the shooting from his home that day.

In opening statements, defense attorney Scott Wilson had a different account of what happened. He said the dog menaced Manley and his fiancée as they walked along the road near his house. 

“He came at them not once, not twice, but a third time,” Wilson said. “At that point, he charged Mr. Manley, teeth bared.” 

Manley was first charged in May 2021 with felony cruelty or unnecessarily killing an animal after he shot the chocolate Labrador retriever that later died in a Salisbury, Md., animal hospital emergency room. In January 2022, two more felony charges were added – possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony and first-degree reckless endangering. Manley turned in his gun to the Delaware State Police, which has held it as evidence. He has been out of jail on his own recognizance, and he rejected a plea deal offer in November 2022.

Witnesses and court documents state that Manley was in the area of Delaware and Oak Orchard avenues at 8:50 p.m., May 31, 2021, and had walked up and down Oak Orchard Avenue several times before he shot the dog.

Manley told an officer with the Office of Animal Welfare that the dog charged at him and was foaming at the mouth, records state. 

“Herbert felt threaten[ed] and felt if he did not shoot the dog it would have jumped up on him. He shot one round at the dog’s head. He said he did not want to kill the dog, just injure it to protect himself,” court documents state.

Witnesses to the shooting said the dog was not aggressive and did nothing to provoke the shooting.

In a previous interview, Oak Orchard resident Charles Drummond said there was some commotion in the area about 8 p.m. when the dog got out of his yard. Drummond said Manley was in the area looking at a home, and Manley had walked up and down the street three times before taking out a gun and shooting the dog.

“The dog was on his [own] property, and he was backing up,” Drummond said.

The dog’s owner, Jim Sekcienski, said he heard a pop, then someone said his dog had been shot.

“I went up to him face-to-face,” he said. “He was still holding his gun, and he said Tank was trying to bite him.”

Court officials expect the trial will last until Thursday, Oct. 12.