This really p***** me off!

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - This really p***** me off!

Posted: 9/24/2004 5:24:27 PM EDT

Hope it's not a dupe.

Emily Bittner
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 23, 2004 12:00 AM

A dog stranded during floods this week in Cottonwood is recovering after he was shot three times while trapped on flotsam.

Authorities speculate that someone shot Dakota, a 96-pound yellow Labrador retriever, with a high-caliber weapon on Monday after he fell into the brimming Verde River.

Neighbors told Yavapai County sheriff's deputies that they heard loud, constant barking for about an hour but couldn't find the dog. Then they heard three shots.

"And we never heard him bark again," said Margie Sikes, 65, of Cornville.

Dakota spent Monday night silent and clinging to downed trees floating in the water. Neighbors spotted him Tuesday morning.

Sikes called fire departments, police agencies and the Sheriff's Office to find out if a dog had been reported missing.

"I called everybody and his brother," she said. "I couldn't get anybody to do anything."

Another woman risked her life by swimming through the flooded river to check on him.

Swift-water rescue teams from Sedona and Verde Valley saved the woman and the dog with an inflatable raft, said Susan Quayle, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.

Dakota, who was "right in the middle of the water and couldn't get up to get a drink," was dehydrated and in shock, Sikes said.

Still, he stood and walked a few steps on land.

Then rescuers saw the puncture wounds.

No one knew the extent of his injuries until he was taken to Verde Veterinary Hospital.

"I was elated to see him," said Ryan Gildehaus, 37, Dakota's owner and a Cottonwood police sergeant. "We didn't realize he was in horrible shape for about an hour later."

Bullets hit Dakota's hindquarters and the front part of his body.

Another pierced his lungs and remained lodged between his liver and stomach Wednesday.

He had massive internal bleeding but was in stable condition, said Dr. Celeste Flannery, who operated on Dakota.

She called his survival "amazing" and said the cold water may have helped slow the bleeding.

Dakota's adventure began Monday, when he and a puppy jumped the fence at Gildehaus' home.

Buster, the puppy, a black-and-white hound with a clipped tail, still is missing.

He is wearing a collar but no tags.

Buster is about 5 months old.

Gildehaus worries about the river sweeping Buster away, and neighbors worry about the coyotes in the area.

Gildehaus rescued Buster only weeks ago, when he found the dog wandering the woods south of Flagstaff.

"I'm not holding out a lot of hope," Gildehaus said. "He deserved better. I saved him once."

Neighbors are helping in the search for Buster but are left wondering why someone in their midst shot at a defenseless dog.

Gildehaus thinks that someone may have been intimidated with his dog's size.

"I don't want to think that someone would shoot him out of spite," Gildehaus said. "He's harmless."

What is wrong with people

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:34:29 PM EDT

[#1]

Quoted:
Hope it's not a dupe.

Emily Bittner
The Arizona Republic
Sept. 23, 2004 12:00 AM

Holy crap !! Last place I'd expect to see MY last name....
Wonder if we're related somehow....

and yes..... people do suck sometimes

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:35:40 PM EDT

[#2]

DUPE!!!!!
j/k

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:35:43 PM EDT

[#3]

People suck...

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:37:50 PM EDT

[#4]

Did they find the person who shot the dog?

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:40:07 PM EDT

[#5]

Quoted:
Did they find the person who shot the dog?

Definitely a police joke in the making there.

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:41:53 PM EDT

[#6]

They think three teenagers did it. They were seen in the area with a rifle. The dog, a really sweet looking lab, was hit in 2 vital organs. The vets bills are already in the thousands, it's still in critical care.

Posted: 9/24/2004 10:43:46 PM EDT

[#7]

Quoted:
They think three teenagers did it. They were seen in the area with a rifle. The dog, a really sweet looking lab, was hit in 2 vital organs. The vets bills are already in the thousands, it's still in critical care.

Posted: 9/24/2004 11:05:41 PM EDT

[#8]

From the rescue:

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:39:34 PM EDT

[#9]

Here's hoping they find Buster okay. The Verde's a killer.

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:44:55 PM EDT

[#10]

I hate to play devil's advocate here but, what if it was a humanitarian who thought the reason for the dog's constant howling and whimpering was due to an inury? Instead of risking your own life trying to rescue the dog, why not put it out of its misery?

Just a thought. The media and PETA do seem to get along well and leave out pertinent facts.

Outside of that theory, it couldn't have been anyone else other than a cop.

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:45:45 PM EDT

[#11]

Man that kind of shit get's me pissed when someone hurts a defensless animal and thinks it is funny or something they should find them and beat the living shit out of them. Man I tell you some folks are just stupid as shit let me stop before I say something I shouldn't.

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:48:00 PM EDT

[#12]

If it was little punk bastards doing it, put their sorry asses out there and let people shoot at them.

I could probably scare up a few folks who would be interested.

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:52:10 PM EDT

[#13]

Why did that women jump into a flooded river after a DOG?

Wanna bet she wouldn't for a kid.

Posted: 9/25/2004 4:53:54 PM EDT

[#14]

Hell if it was a kid like some I know around here where I live I wouldn't jump in and save thier ass either.

Posted: 9/25/2004 5:22:06 PM EDT

[#15]

I have had to put my own animals down. It's a hard thing to do but sometimes it's a must.

My main beef with shooter (if the dog was shot to be put out of it's mysery) is failure to make a clean kill.

Another woman risked her life by swimming through the flooded river to check on him.

Swift-water rescue teams from Sedona and Verde Valley saved the woman and the dog with an inflatable raft, said Susan Quayle, a spokeswoman for the Sheriff's Office.

A human life is more important than any animal.

If the woman is willing to kill herself trying to save the dog that's fine.

Putting the rescue teams lives in jeopardy is not!!!

Posted: 9/25/2004 5:24:59 PM EDT

[#16]

maybe the shooter was trying to spare the dog a painful death?

[ARCHIVED THREAD] - This really p***** me off!

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