FARMINGTON – Officials are investigating the shooting of a dog.

Animal doctors at Clearwater Veterinarian Hospital performed major surgery on the dog’s mouth after a passerby brought the dog in.

“This is a cruelty-to-animal case,” Animal Control Officer Wayne Atwood said Sunday.

The dog was found shot in the head by a passing motorist Friday in the vicinity of Ramsdell, Mosher Hill and Hymie Norton roads off Route 27, south of New Vineyard.

The collie-shepherd-mix male was taken to the hospital before Atwood arrived on the scene, and veterinarians Robert Patterson and Nancy Kessler determined that the dog had been shot, Atwood said.

Someone shot the dog in the mouth area with the intent of shooting it, Atwood said.

Atwood said the dog is medium in size, reddish-brown with some white on its head.

Patterson said the castrated male weighs about 60 pounds.

The bullet entered through the dog’s mouth knocked out a tooth, tore the tongue and exited through the jaw on the other side, fracturing it, Patterson said.

“It made a mess,” he said.

It’s going to be a long time before the dog gets back to normal, if it does, Patterson said.

Anyone with information on the dog can call the Franklin County Sheriff’s Department at 778-2680, Farmington Police Department at 778-6311 or Atwood at 645-4918.

dperry@sunjournal.com

Copy the Story Link