Would You Fire A Shotgun At This Dog? Someone Did

Meet Griffin. Griffin is by far the sweetest and most good-natured dog I’ve ever met, and someone broke his leg in two places and fired a shotgun at him.

I can’t tell you how angry that makes me, and how much it breaks my heart.

Griffin was a shelter dog. He was adopted by Katie Small, an amazing woman who wanted to give him a second chance at a better life. Katie knew he had been abused, but the extent of that abuse wasn’t revealed until yesterday.

Griffin always favors his back leg, and even goes so far as to hold it up when standing. We thought there was something possibly wrong with his hips, so we decided a trip to the vet and an X-Ray was in his best interest.

What we found shocked and horrified Katie and I.

Do you see those little dots in the X-Ray above? That’s buckshot from a shotgun. From the placement of the buckshot, the vet surmised that Griffin had been shot while running away or trying to escape.

He was trying to get away and was shot.

The next two X-rays were just as heartbreaking. His right rear leg had been broken in two places, in his knee and ankle, and not set properly. That means his joints are fused and basically useless in that leg.

No wonder his leg hurts.

Our vet told us to plan for a lifetime of arthritis and pain pills for Griffin because there isn’t a surgery that can fix this. We may have to “shave” the joints every two years or so to keep him from suffering too much.

That’s it? That’s all we have? Someone deliberately broke Griffin’s leg in two places and fired at him with a shotgun and all we can do is give him pain pills? It really breaks my heart and infuriates me. I want to find the person who hurt Griffin and return their hatred in kind, or fire a shotgun at them as they run away. Who would hurt a dog like this? Who would hurt a dog at all? Of course I or Katie would never hurt someone like that. We’re better than that.

But there is a special place in Hell for people who hurt animals, especially dogs.

Remember: animal abuse and neglect are crimes in the state of Idaho, and can be punished by up to 15 years in prison. If you know of an animal related issue in Twin Falls County, please contact Animal Control by calling (208) 735-1911.

But I know one thing: Griffin has a far, far better life now than ever before. Katie and I love him, his family adores him, my son Jack loves him, and he always gets to sleep on our feet on the nice, warm bed.

We will love Griffin no matter what. He’s part of our family.

Griffin’s owner, Katie, was gracious enough to come on my show today and talk about Griffin, the animal shelter, and how she felt when she saw the X-rays and heard what the vet had to say.