DUMMERSTON, Vt. (AP) – Rep. Steve Darrow, D-Putney, has been cited for allegedly shooting a neighbor’s dog.

Darrow has denied the accusation. He said Friday that the sheriff’s department is harassing him because he said he’s suing the department over an incident in which he was hit by a deputy’s cruiser in Brattleboro.

“It’s just blatant harassment,” Darrow said.

Darrow was cited by the sheriff’s department on Thursday.

Windham County Sheriff Sheila Prue did not immediately return phone calls seeking comment.

Steve Lawlor, the dog’s owner, said when he arrived home on Dec. 22 after shopping he saw blood in the snow leading to Darrow’s house.

He found a bullet hole in the side of one of dogs, a female Rottweiller. A veterinarian determined a bullet had landed in the dog’s hip, he said.

Lawlor’s wife, Alicia, said Darrow had complained to her and her husband about the dogs defecating on his land the day of the shooting.

“He had never said anything before,” she said. “If he had, I would have obviously taken care of it. There is no doubt in my mind he shot my dog.”

Darrow denied complaining about the dog and said he liked the animal. “I used to save meat scraps for it,” he said.