 Dog shot by hunter
Amherst, NH (US)Date: Nov 11, 2004
County: Hillsborough
Disposition: Open
Suspect(s) Unknown - We need your help!
|
|
Last Thursday, Andrew Duane and a friend were out hiking with the dog, named Duncan, at the Joe English Reservation off Route 101, when someone shot his golden retriever at a local nature preserve.
"We hike there all the time," Duane said. �It�s about 10 minutes away from my house. It�s not a huge wilderness - it�s nice for a half-hour walk for the dog.�
The two had the day off due to the Veterans Day holiday, and they were walking around in regular clothing.
�There are some marked trails and, now I realize, hunting,� Duane said. �I didn�t know that at the time. Twenty-five feet in front of me, a hunter shot my dog. He apparently knew what he had done, because he ran away. I guess he decided Duncan looked too much like a deer.�
Duane believes his dog was shot by a hunter, but he said he didn�t get a clear look at the shooter, so it�s not clear whether the person actually was hunting or was in the woods for another reason.
Duane said his friend used a cell phone to call police. The Amherst and New Boston police departments sent officers to help Duane and his friend carry the dog out of the woods. Two veterinary technicians from the Amherst Animal Hospital met the group at the end of the trail to give Duncan immediate medical attention.
Duncan was brought to the Amherst Animal Hospital with �very, very severe injuries,� according to Duane.
C.J. Churchill, the veterinarian who worked on Duncan, said he was hit by a single bullet. The bullet entered and exited one of the dog�s front limbs before entering and exiting one of his hind limbs.
�The dog was in shock and had lost a lot of blood,� Churchill said Tuesday. �He was still actively bleeding from his forearm. The bullet had shredded all of the muscle. We gave him a blood transfusion, then he went to the (Nashua Animal Hospital) to be monitored overnight.�
Duane said Duncan �was far too injured to go home,� and that he died at the Nashua hospital on Saturday. The person who shot him has yet to be located.
Amherst Police are actively investigating the incident, but have no leads, according to Lt. Peter Lyon.When asked whether police had identified the type of weapon used to shoot Duncan, Lyon said, �I can�t comment on that.�
The Joe English Reservation includes 558 acres of conservation land, according to the town�s Web site. People can access the various marked trails and hunting areas via entrances on Brook Road and Chestnut Hill Road.
Duane said he didn�t see any signs posted regarding hunting on the property until he left.
�On the way out, I did see a small eight-by-10 piece of paper saying, �Hunters and hikers, please share these woods.� That sign should be much bigger,� he said.
There is another large sign regarding hunting posted in at least one of the parking areas.
Duane said he wants hunting to cease at the reservation �given that the trails are full of people and kids take field trips out there. I�m writing to the town to get that stopped.�
Representatives of the town�s Conservation Commission as well as the Peabody Mill Environmental Center, which abuts the reservation, could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
Duane and Duncan had been companions for about 2� years.
�He�s always been with me everywhere, including on all of my hikes,� Duane said.
�It�s a shame that someone could exhibit that little care with a loaded gun in a suburban town and get away with it.� References« NH State Animal Cruelty Map
|
