FARMINGTON – The reddish-brown dog with some white on its nose and chest rested quietly Monday at the veterinary hospital, the left side of its shattered jaw held together with surgical pins and wire.

The collie-German shepherd mix was found wandering on Mosher Hill Road Friday with a gunshot wound to its head.

The dog seems to be doing very well, said veterinarian Nancy Kessler at the Clearwater Veterinary Hospital in Farmington.

He can eat “blenderized” food, and he can drink, she said. She checked on him during the weekend to make sure he was OK.

Kessler and veterinarian Robert Patterson worked for two hours or longer Friday to clean the injury, remove bone fragments and put four pins in the dog’s jaw.

The bullet went in through the top right of the dog’s mouth down through the tongue and exited through the jaw under the left ear, Patterson said.

Some of the dog’s teeth were shattered and knocked out, and the dog’s tongue has two terrible lacerations, Patterson said.

Patterson said he believes the dog had been shot on Friday because the blood was very fresh.

“I suspect he was shot within a couple of hours” before he was found and brought to the hospital, Patterson said. The dog was brought in around noon.

He’s an excellent dog to work with, very well-mannered, Patterson said.

The dog’s coat smelled fresh and nails were trimmed, he said.

Veterinarian assistant Tracy Archari put a leash around the dog’s chest and led him outside. The dog, whose front legs and paws were matted with dried blood from constant drooling, walked without making a sound before it was ready to go back inside.

Elwin Churchill spotted the dog Friday on Mosher Hill Road near Hymi Norton Road and Ramsdell Road while he was driving his pickup truck with his son and family dog in the vehicle.

“I saw the dog coming toward us and knew it was in pain. It was all bloody,” Churchill said.

“I said, ‘That dog’s hurt.'”

Churchill went to the veterinary hospital and called Animal Control Officer Wayne Atwood, then returned to where he had seen the dog. The dog was still there.

Churchill pulled his truck to the side of the road and had his son take their dog up the road.

The injured dog laid under Churchill’s truck. “He was looking for a place to die,” Churchill said.

Churchill coaxed the dog out and took it to the veterinary hospital.

“I told them to do what they could for the dog; he suffered some hellish trauma. I love animals,” Churchill said, his voice breaking.

“I’d do that for any dog or for anybody’s dog … It was hurt real bad. I kept telling him not to give up.”

Atwood is hoping someone will come forward to claim the dog or will know something about the shooting of the dog. Anyone with information may phone Franklin County Sheriff’s Department at 778-2680, Farmington Police Department at 778-6311 or Atwood at 645-4918.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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