A long-standing neighborhood conflict over roaming dogs escalated when a 74-year-old man fired a shotgun out a window of his home, killing a loose Chihuahua and landing himself in jail on criminal charges, according to police.

Lowell Mueller was charged with reckless endangerment, cruelty to animals and fourth-degree misconduct with a weapon, according to police. He was arrested and later released on $500 bail with the condition that he not possess any firearms, police said.

The shooting Sunday afternoon grew out of previous encounters involving the 8-pound male dog and an insurmountably larger female he couldn't seem to resist in the neighborhood off Lore Road and Lake Otis Parkway.

"You hear about people shooting Rottweilers. You hear about people shooting pit bulls. Even police officers (shooting dogs) when the dog is attacking. I've never heard of anybody shooting a Chihuahua," said John Glasgow, one of the dog's owners. "It just hurt me very deeply when this happened. I just don't understand the sense behind shooting the dog."

The 10-year-old Chihuahua, Faux Pas, was apparently attracted to Mueller's own dog, which was in heat, Glasgow said. Mueller's dog was in a fenced dog run in the yard, which itself is not fenced.

Faux Pas made a fatal misstep when he approached Mueller's property on Zurich Street, according to police.

Mueller leveled a semiautomatic .410-bore shotgun loaded with bird shot out an opened window and shot the animal on the street at a corner of his property, police Lt. Dave Parker said. Faux Pas was about 20 feet away from the window.

A neighbor outside shoveling snow heard a shot, looked over and saw the dog, Parker said. The man told police the small dog was "bleeding and squirming in the snow," Parker said. He got into an argument with Mueller about shooting the dog, then Mueller came out and bagged the then-dead dog, he said.

Mueller was charged with recklessly firing the weapon because other people were in the area, Parker said.

"The shot was towards the road and the officer was concerned because the shot from the shotgun could have ricocheted and gone onward toward other homes in the area," Parker said. "There were children in the neighborhood playing in the yards directly east."

Mueller said the Chihuahua has been a thorn in his side for about five years. It would come to his house, sometimes with other dogs, sniffing around his 6-year-old Zippy, a German shorthaired pointed, he said. When Zippy's not in the house, he keeps her in the dog run, and the other dogs have tried digging to reach her, he said.

He says he's called Faux Pax's owner repeatedly and last year reported him to animal control. Still, the Chihuahua he kept coming back.

When Faux Pas showed up Sunday afternoon, Mueller wanted to send a message, he said.

"I really didn't mean to make a killing shot on it. I just wanted to tickle it, is all I did, and I missed tickling it," Mueller said. "I'm sorry for shooting the dog, but I'm glad it's gone. It's just been a pain in my side here for a long time and those people just wouldn't do nothing about it."

Randy Jobes, who also lives in the neighborhood, said several dogs, including the Chihuahua, have been known to roam the area, relieving themselves on others' property. Sometimes, especially during the summer, he's seen the Chihuahua on the loose frequently, he said. Still, he was in disbelief the dog was killed.

"I can't believe he shot the dog," Jobes said. "I guess you get to a point, but, you know, you could make it disappear or something. It didn't come home one day. But to be blatant, you know, the gunshot and people seeing it..."

Glasgow conceded that Faux Pas has escaped from his home several blocks away in the past and gone to see Zippy when she's in heat, but he said they always went to get him when Mueller called. There was no reason to shoot Faux Pas, he said.

"It's his right to keep his dog in any particular way that he wants to," Glasgow said. "But the problem of it is that when you keep a female dog out like that, other dogs are going to come into your yard. What he's saying is that my dog is out of control and running through the neighborhood. What I'm trying to tell him is, 'The only reason my dog was at your house was because you're keeping a bitch in heat outside.' "