ANNISTON, Ala. – A 5-month-old mixed breed puppy is recovering in an eastern Alabama veterinary clinic after someone shot an arrow through its chest — the clinic's second case of a dog pierced by an arrow in less than a week.
It wasn't known if the two shootings were related, or how they occurred. But veterinarian Tom Nelson of the Animal Medical Center of Anniston said it most likely on purpose.
"The likelihood of it being an accident is slim," he said.
Angela Hammond found the puppy beside a road in the White Plains area of Calhoun County in eastern Alabama Tuesday morning.
"It was just horrible," Hammond said. "The poor little thing couldn't walk. It was just sitting there."
Animal control officers were called and the puppy was taken to the Anniston clinic, which handled a similar case of a dog shot with an arrow in Munford last week.
Nelson operated on the puppy to remove the crossbow bolt — a type of heavy, blunt arrow. He said it went below the puppy's aorta and pierced a lung lobe but missed other vital organs.
The downward trajectory of the arrow as well as the puppy's age and gentle temperament suggest a deliberate act of cruelty.
"This was obviously not a mean dog that was attacking somebody," he said.
Hammond, who hopes to find the dog a good home, has named the puppy Wally for now.
Nelson said the Munford dog's owner found it with an arrow shot through one of its shoulder blades. The arrow had left the dog's front legs useless until the arrow could be removed.
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