Baby sitting dog. Dog gets out. Dog gets shot! Twice!

[mattr762]

Our neighbor is a Policeman and we are baby sitting his very nice dogs while he's on vacation in New York. The dogs were staying in their own back yard when this morning they both got out. I went to a car show about 9:30am and didn't notice anything strange. My wife was leaving around 11:15 and notice one dog across the street and the other dog laying in the owners front yard. She went over to check on it and noticed blood. I meet her at the vet because she was thinking the dog got hit by a car. The vet inspects her and did a couple of x-rays. He shaves two spots on the dog to reveal 2 bullet holes right above the rear hip and the top of the front shoulder. The front bullet is still in her and the vet couldn't find the back bullet. The vet wants to keep the wounds open to drain the blood. So now we've to the dog at our house and I'm staring at two bullet holes as I type this. This sucks big time. Oh, the vet vet bill was only $250. I thought it would have been more. But since he didn't do any surgery that price is about right.

CN: People that shoot dogs better go straight to Hell.

[427 S/O]

Ditto!.......

[Ron61]

That really sucks and is as bad a this arrogant ass that lives across the alley behind me. He has a dog that barked most of the nights and the neighbors complained and he told them basically to go to hell and he would see that their cats weren't around much longer. The next week 4 cats died of rat poison. I went to him and asked him to shut the dog up and he got really pissed and I told him I had already turned the people across the street in because of their attitude and it cost them $300 dollars an now they keep their dog quiet. Three of the neighbors came by when they saw the markers for my 3 dogs graves to ask if they had been poisoned and I told them no, if they had been that guy wouldn't still be there. But his dog has been kept quite at night since I went over and told him that I would turn in his threats and what he had said about getting rid of the cats. I wouldn't hurt his dog at all, but at times I have shot at him with a sling shot at 1 AM.

Ron

[trularin]

Well now. I would have to agree that shooting a family pet is very bad.

Dogs that pack and enter into the horse pasture usually get kicked into pieces and it take a long time to clean them all up. In one case I spent an entire day digging holes to drop dog parts into.

So, we used to shoot them and then drag them from the pasture before they bacame a bigger problem.

Before I get a poop load of hastys, none of the dogs we shot had tags or collars on them. It was what we did...30 years ago.

[Ron61]

Tru,

That is a lot different than shooting dogs and cats in the owners yards. One guy here had to move out in the middle of the night because he shot a very expensive dog in the owners yard up the street. He was mad at the dog's owner because he wouldn't do something he wanted. The dog's owner came after him with a gun and he stayed away from home from then on and sent a man to get his stuff out of the house one night at midnight. Packs of more or less wild dogs runnng loose on farms and chasing cows and other animals falls under a different category so far as I am concerned.

Ron

[trularin]

That's how it is viewed when we are hunting, but these Yahoos that shoot at other peoples pets are just butt-heads.

The only thing I can think of on mattr762 situation is they were shot with something small and low power.

BTW, we are having Elk tonight, very tasty.

[Ron61]

Tru,

When the Elk is ready, go ahead and have a package flown out to me. I haven't tasted any for years. And I am tired of Tree Frogs.

Ron

[mattr762]

Originally Posted by trularin

The only thing I can think of on mattr762 situation is they were shot with something small and low power.

Vet said it looked like a .22.

[Jamo]

Sorry, but if the dogs got out and were threatening anyone...not much choice. You say they are "nice" dogs...then again, the owner is gone. If the yard cannot be secured against mistakes, they should've been boarded.

As much as I hate seeing pets pay for human mistakes, I hate reading about kids dying after being mauled by dogs even more. If this dog had been shot in his own secured back yard, I could see your point.

I own two labs. They are the friendliest beings I know, but they are big and can be fearsome looking. If they got out and ran towards kids (even to play) and folks don't know them, I would rather they be put down than attend a kid's funeral.

I fault the owner (a cop should know better) for leaving them in a situation where this could happen. Shouldn't have to rely on a neighbor.

Dogs paying for human mistakes...sad indeed. People who don't properly care for their dogs ought to be fixed.

[mattr762]

Jamo, You got an interesting viewpoint. But the last person that is at fault is the owner (cop). He ask me if my 11 year old son wanted to watch the dogs for $50. We could have turned him down.

The dogs were secured in their back yard with a 6 foot privacy fence and gates were latched shut at 9:30 last night (I personally made sure of that). Some one else opened the gate. The vet said the angle of the bullet wound shows the dog was laying down when it got shot (because the hole goes upwards).

[Jamo]

Interesting to say the least. I know having the dog shot is painful, but from your account, it sounds like nobody checked the dog in the morning? You left out those facts in your initial post...sounds like you're now saying someone tried to break in? Would've been interesting to hear that initially.

Whatever...your initial post made it sound like the dogs got out and then someone shot them. That's what I replied to. When you post here, expect responses. Adding relevant facts after responses makes it a little curious...blood trail indicating dog left the yard after being shot?

Just to be clear...I feel bad about the dog, as I'm sure others do.

[trularin]

I think I might be inclined to follow the blood trail. There is no hiding the UV signature, a small black light may help ( lord, please help me remember how to do this ).