THREE FORKS — A Three Forks man is facing a felony charge after authorities say he shot his neighbor's dog with a pellet gun.
Denis Dale Christenson was arrested on July 6, 2026, and charged with Aggravated Animal Cruelty.
According to charging documents, the victim called 911 to report that her dog had been shot by her neighbor. Christenson lives on the adjoining property to the north.
The victim showed Gallatin County Sheriff's deputies security camera footage from the front of her home. In the video, the dog was walking from the front of the fenced yard toward the house when a sound occurred; the dog jumped in pain, looked north, and then ran to the south end of the yard. The dog had a circular puncture wound on its left flank that was oozing blood.
The victim told deputies that Christenson had shot the dog in the past and that there was a history of him complaining about the dog. She said Christenson would antagonize the dog through the fence dividing their properties and then complain when the dog barked.
When deputies contacted Christenson by phone, he agreed to speak with them in his front yard. According to the affidavit, Christenson said the victim's dog had been barking in the morning and again right before he left to get groceries. When asked what happened after the dog was barking before he left, Christenson became visibly angry and admitted he shot the dog.
Christenson told deputies he used a pellet gun. The gun and a pellet container with remaining pellets were seized as evidence. According to the affidavit, Christenson was approximately 20 yards away from the dog, on his own property, behind a bush with a steel fence dividing the two properties, when he fired.
The victim later called to report she had taken the dog to an emergency veterinary clinic. Veterinarians found multiple pellets in the dog that had pierced its intestines and were internally causing sepsis. The dog had a 50/50 chance of surviving surgery.
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