Dog shot in yard, dies
Frederick, MD (US)Incident Date: Friday, Feb 6, 2009
County: Calvert
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
Bubba sniffed under the bushes of his yard moments after he'd been hit.
The pellet or BB rolled around in his rib cage, having entered in front of his right hind quarters, said Samantha Keefer, the dog's owner.
One of her daughters let him outside that day, Feb. 6, at about 9 a.m.
Bubba, 4, had been out for only about 15 minutes when Keefer heard him yelp.
The sweet, friendly, bull-headed but happy beagle mix ignored his discomfort for a few last moments of hunting.
From a distance, he looked fine, Keefer said. But when he came inside, blood dripped on the hardwood floor.
Bubba came from an Amish farmer. The Keefers, who live in Mount Airy, raised him from a pup. He'd grown into a skittish, tail-thumping dog who made everyone laugh.
He had big brown eyes, Keefer said.
When the dog threw up and didn't want to go outside, she rushed him to a veterinarian at about 5:15 p.m.
The vet shaved the area where Bubba had been wounded and did an X-ray, she said. "He found a BB or pellet in the X-ray."
Antibiotics over the weekend didn't help. On Monday morning, Bubba's temperature was above normal, Keefer said.
A return visit to the vet confirmed Bubba needed surgery. That was arranged for the following morning, Feb. 10, at a clinic in Bethesda.
During the surgery, the veterinarian called Keefer at work, she said. It was about 10 a.m. Bubba was asleep on the operating table. The vet told her his intestines had been damaged by the pellet. Even if repaired, he wouldn't have a good chance for survival.
The vet suggested he put Bubba down on the operating table because the dog was already asleep.
"That's when I had to make the decision to have him put down," Keefer said.
Bubba's death has left his owners and neighbors wondering how someone could have done this to him.
"We don't know if it's a kid who headed off to school, or an angry neighbor who used a gun instead of words," Keefer said. "What if a kid was playing in the yard? What if it was us?"
Rachel McVey of Frederick County Animal Control said she investigated the shooting. She took pictures of Bubba's wound.
"It was a very, very small entrance wound," she said. "Smaller than the tip of a pencil eraser."
The weapon has not been determined, but the projectile that wounded the dog appears to have been similar to a BB or pellet, she said. "This is an ongoing investigation. We have no information at this point."
Keefer said Bubba was buried Thursday at her parents' Woodbine farm. On Friday, her family held a memorial for their beloved dog in the yard he loved so much.
"It's so heartbreaking," Keefer said. "It's so scary."
A lot of her neighbors are concerned for their dogs, she said.
"If someone had a problem with my dog, why didn't they come to me first?" References« MD State Animal Cruelty Map
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