Three puppies will never see the light of day again.
That's because Cameron County Sheriff Deputies say 56-year-old John Paul Nolan, of Los Fresnos, pumped bullets into their heads with a 9 millimeter handgun.
The bodies then dumped into a canal near San Roman and Center Line Road.
Authorities have charged him in connection with animal cruelty.
John says they have it all wrong.
"I didn't want to see them suffer any longer,” said Nolan. “I come from the country that's how we do things in the country.”
He says the puppies were suffering when they were abandoned earlier this week on his property.
He claims they had parvo and mange.
“We have dogs in my house,” said Nolan. “We love dog's and these puppies were not going to make it. They were going to be dead by morning. I couldn't see doing anything but what I did.”
Neighbor's of John Paul Nolan say the Harley's General Bar owner has been cruel to animals in the neighborhood for some time now.
"He has a tremendous anger problem,” said Bonnie Elizabeth Hoffman. “He is not kind to animals nor kind to people.”
Hoffman is an ex-employee of Nolan’s.
She says although the puppies were sick, 56 year-old Nolan shouldn't have taken it upon himself to shoot the three puppies.
“They are humans with hair,” said Hoffman. “It's like killing a child and he is not God and it was not his responsibility to do that.”
Nolan says he is a dog owner and dog lover.
Investigators say Nolan broke the law.
"First of all he's not a veterinarian,” said Cameron County Sheriff Omar Lucio. “Second he doesn't have the qualifications to say who is sick and who is not sick.”
Authorities recommend that abandoned dogs be taken to a shelter or animal control at no cost to the person.
Nolan is currently at Carrizales Detention Center waiting an arraignment on Saturday.
He is charged with three state felony charges of animal cruelty and faces up to two years in jail for each charge
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