A Port Haywood resident who shot and killed a neighbor’s dog on Saturday will not face criminal charges.

According to a press release from Mathews County Animal Control officer Jean Roberts and Mathews County Commonwealth’s Attorney Tom Bowen, an investigation into the incident found that the shooting was made in response to the dog threatening the resident’s dogs on his property and, as such, was not a violation of state law.

The incident occurred on Diggs Wharf Road, said the release, and began when the dog that died, King, a 10-month-old, 80-pound American Staffordshire terrier, broke through a wooden picket railing surrounding the deck on the back of his home and ran across the street into the resident’s yard and onto the front porch. The resident had just let his two dogs outside for a morning break. The dogs were Dixie, a six-month-old, 30-pound German Shepherd/Heeler mix, and Maui, a two-year-old, 60-pound black Labrador Retriever.

King attacked Dixie,...