So it turns out somebody shot my dog

These days, my dog Lily is only allowed loose on our farm (outside the fenced backyard) if my husband or I are out there with her. (She takes her job of standing in the path of my lawn mowing very seriously.) However, I used to be lax about letting her go out the front door when I wasn’t watching her. That behavior ended abruptly about four years ago.

For the first year we lived in Alabama, I trusted that Lily would keep reasonably within the limit of our own three acres. I was mistaken, and one morning, she got herself into trouble. I have since apologized to Lily for my irresponsibly letting her run loose.

When Lily got hurt, I was sitting at this same computer desk, disregarding emails over a cup of black coffee. I happened to glance out the window and saw my dog amble right on past the house along the gravel road. That was not like her. She usually came straight to the front door. Where was she going? I went outside onto the road and called to her. Then I froze. That was NOT Lily. It was a strange dog with darker markings than Lily, and it didn’t look super healthy/friendly. It wasn’t behaving aggressively, but it did seem wonky. It stared at me silently. My eight-year-old (at the time) daughter was safe in the house, where she should stay. For ten seconds, I catalogued potential responses if it should attack me.

Then I realized: That WAS my Lily and she was covered in blood. She came back to me unsteadily. The blood was hers. I thought that she had been in a dog fight and suffered a lot of bites. I rinsed the worst of the blood off her back legs and did a quick inspection. None of the bites looked deep, but the backs of her rear legs were still bleeding. I toweled her off quickly, lifted her into the back of my minivan, and drove to the veterinarian. The vet checked her out her right away and confirmed that none of the wounds was life-threatening, but she would “be very sore and hurting for a few days.” Lily was prescribed painkillers. She was so sore the next day that I had to hold her body around the middle to help her squat to pee. Happily, she was basically back to normal within a week.

Years pass. Now, Lily is almost thirteen (human) years old, and she has been turning her nose up at her food lately. Yesterday we took her for a senior wellness check. During the exam, she exhibited some signs of back pain, so we agreed to an x-ray. The staff took Lily to the back room. We waited in the front room for almost half an hour.

“This is taking a while,” my husband remarked.

When the vet came back out, she asked if Lily had ever been shot.

“Shocked?” we asked. “Well, we do have an electric fence, but we don’t know that she ever touched it.”

“No, SHOT,” the doctor clarified.

Charles and I were dumbfounded. “Not that we know of.”

They brought us in the back room and showed us this x-ray.

My poor Lily has shotgun pellets lodged in her body all over–even in her tail. There’s at least one in her head and another in an ear. Thinking back, I remember that ear being particularly bloody after the “dog fight” occurred.

Lily is some kind of crazy-awesome super dog, to have been living this long with that going on and to always wear a sweet smile.

Here’s a picture of her today.

Last evening, after we got home from the veterinarian, I was upset deep down. My poor sweetie had been shot and I never knew! The possibility never occurred to me. Before bedtime, I sat on the couch and searched HBO for a comedy to settle my mind, and I ended up watching the first half of “Corky Romano.” Yes, I prescribed myself the medicinal use of “Corky Romano” (and a martini).

The good news: The neighbors who most likely shot my dog moved away a couple years ago. Their action might even have been within the realm of reasonable–maybe Lily was aggressive toward their dog. I don’t know the situation of the moment it occurred. And if Lily was out terrorizing…that’s on me. But thank goodness they moved. If they still lived there, I would have a dark stone in my heart during every drive past their house for the rest of my life.

Extra cuddles today for Lily. 🙂