A puppy that was pumped so full of pellets from a shotgun that vets lost count of the quantity they removed has been taken into care by an animal charity. It been shot repeatedly and left for dead in Co Derry, Northern Ireland.
The young dog was discovered in an undisclosed location by a man out horse trekking. He alerted Friends of Rescue, an animal charity, which took the dog to safety. The German Shepherd type creature is believed to be less than a year old and was found cowering in bushes.
Vets removed at least 88 lead pellets from its body – including 40 alone from the neck. Friends of Rescue have now taken the dog in to keep it safe and allow for the pup's recovery.
A spokesperson for the charity, said: "We at first thought he was attacked until we realised that in the wounds surface and deeper he was covered in pellets. He has been shot with a shotgun and the initial gun shot wound was massive but the rest of the pellets covered his body. Vets said 'there are dozens of pellets in his body, we stopped counting at 88'.
"He was being shot to be killed and as a result he was left scared, sore and alone in a hedge until he was found. Our vets were very upset by his state. He is only 13kg and at most this boy is six to seven months old… he is only a baby.
"Our vets got as many of the pellets out as they could. He isn’t walking and we imagine this is because he is sore. He is a pitiful site. As you can expect this wee gentle soul is traumatised. He knows we are helping him but he is so afraid. We can only imagine what his short life must have been like to find himself in this position.
"We can’t begin to imagine what would have happened to him had he not been spotted. We know he was there to hide and probably didn’t want to be found, but he was too sore to get away. In rescue, people always think that you become hardened or used to it or ‘seen it all’ and sometimes it can feel that way – but then we are heartbroken all over again.
"He has no voice, no one is listening… we have got to protect the vulnerable, the ones who need us most – and he is the prime example of why we do what we do."
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