Campbell County Animal Control Officer Benny David has been to see the same dog every day this week.
"You look at those eyes and it's hard to resist her.", says David.
Because she gives you, well, puppy dog eyes.
"My deputies started calling her Brittney.", says David.
Those deputies thought Brittney had been hit by a car until the emergency vet felt the bullet in the dog's neck through her skin.
An X-ray shows the bullet lodged in muscle just under the skin. It knocked out a tooth and went right down the dog's throat.
The emergency vet was able to remove the largest portion of the bullet, but some of the smaller fragments near her mouth cannot be removed because they would cause harm to Brittney's sinuses.
Because there is no exit or entry wound or significant damage to the dog's face or neck, animal control does not believe someone actually put the gun inside the dog's mouth and pulled the trigger. They believe when the bullet was fired, the dog's mouth was open and of all places it landed inside. Case UpdatesWhen Campbell County Animal Control officer Melissa LaBryer found the springer spaniel on Bear Creek Road on Saturday morning, she thought the dog had been hit by a car.
Only later did LaBryer and the veterinarian treating the dog realize she�d been shot in the mouth at close range with either a 9mm or a .38 caliber pistol.
Though Britney has a potentially long recovery ahead, she is now walking around her pen at the Altavista Animal Hospital, wagging her tail and chowing down on as much soft food as the hospital staff will give her.
�I�ve never seen (a dog) shot in the face and that lived,� said Dr. Jay Harper, owner of the Animal Emergency & Critical Care of Lynchburg hospital.
�It�s just amazing. If the bullet had been an inch higher, it would have gone through her nose and into her brain.�
Britney was unconscious, in shock and having difficulty breathing when she first arrived at the critical care center, Harper said. At first he wasn�t sure what was wrong, but then he found a lump in her throat and quickly concluded Britney had been shot.
The bullet tore through her upper front teeth, her upper jaw and her sinuses before scraping through the back of her tongue and throat and lodging in her neck, Harper said. �Lucky for her it didn�t hit anything important�
After hearing about Britney�s case, the Mid-Atlantic English Springer Spaniel Rescue offered to take her into their care and will take care of all vet bills starting as of Wednesday, Debbie Lipcsey, a Goochland-based member of the group, said.
The dog will go into foster care, sponsored by the rescue, as soon as she�s released from the vet hospital, Lipcsey said.
Campbell County Animal Control officer Benny David said though he has his suspicions as to who shot Britney, but he can�t do anything until he has proof. Anyone with information is asked to call Campbell County Animal Control, but David asks that only those willing to testify in court call.
�Animal control brings us wacky stuff all the time but this was really an unusual patient,� Harper said. �It was pretty amazing, a very impressive dog. I�m surprised she lived.� | Source: News Advance - May 3, 2007 Update posted on May 5, 2007 - 7:15AM |
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