Couple’s dog fatally shot in Long Beach backyard

Beth and Andrew Cohen are heartbroken after their 8-year-old dachshund named Buddy was killed, apparently shot in their own backyard with a BB or pellet gun.
The Cohens say they were at work Monday when a neighbor let out Buddy inside their fenced yard on East Hudson Street in Long Beach. Minutes later, the neighbor found Buddy in a pool of his own blood.
Buddy died by the time the neighbor was able to get him to a veterinary hospital. X-rays revealed a small round object lodged in Buddy's heart.
Dr. Lee Gelfand says the X-rays "definitively show a BB in the heart."
Long Beach detectives and the Nassau County District Attorney's Animal Crimes Unit are investigating. Police have marked two low, small holes in the Cohens' fence and have combed the area for surveillance video.
"If it was intentional, how devastatingly cruel," Andrew Cohen says. "It was extremely reckless."
"We can't bring Buddy back, but we would like justice," says Beth Cohen.
Police say they're awaiting necropsy results. They ask anyone with information on the case to call Long Beach detectives at 516-705-7320.