Pit Bull Needs Help Paying For Medical Care

Are there any Dogster groups that could help Bullet?

Thanks to Lynn H. for barking in this article from Boston.com.

Oregon dog survives bullet wound in jaw
November 15, 2006

AUMSVILLE, Ore. –A dog found in the mountains east of Salem with a bullet in its jaw and little meat on its bones has a chance to survive.

Phyllis Morris, a supervisor at the recently opened Marion County Dog Control and Shelter, said the injured pit bull — nicknamed “Bullet” — survived a month, maybe two, without supplied food or medical attention. She said the dog has gained some weight since it was brought to the shelter last week, but it’s still 20 pounds underweight and needs surgery to have the bullet removed.

The dog was rescued by Lonna Chase of Lyons, who was hunting deer near Gates when she came across the malnourished dog.

“It was roaming around and making weird sounds — I thought because it had a sinus infection. But he was very friendly,” Chase said. “He was so skinny, and he wasn’t vicious at all. I definitely knew I couldn’t just leave him up there.”

She tried to lure it into the truck bed with “about a half-pound of jerky.” The dog, however, didn’t have the strength to jump, so she threw her hunting jacket over the dog in case it tried to bite.

Chase took the dog home to Lyons, where she cleaned him up before driving him to the shelter. A veterinarian who happened to be there ordered an X-ray after feeling something in the dog’s jaw.

“It was when he was looking at the X-rays that he found the bullet lodged in the dog’s jaw,” Morris said. “It’s the diameter of a nickel and surrounded by bone fragment. It’s just a miracle this dog survived, and we think he deserves a special home.”

Morris and the staff speculate that someone intentionally shot the dog through the eye.

“Because of the directionality, we figured he had to have been shot on purpose, probably with a handgun,” Morris said. “The shot came from above and points down. We suppose it could have been a hunter in a tree and that the bullet was a stray, but it really doesn’t look that way to us.”

Morris said the bullet remains in the dog’s jaw, and bone fragments litter the tissue around the site. Morris said the eye can’t be saved, but the socket and his sinus cavity can be repaired.

Follow link to read the rest of the article.

Update on November 18th —

Thanks to Julie Heyward for barking in this second article on Bullet! And yes, Julie, this is exactly the way to contact me!

Julie Hayward wrote:
I hope this is the right way to do this. This AP story showed up in our local newpaper and I thought you might be interested:

Article in Salem, Oregon’s Statesman Journal.

Keep up the good work!