'It's sickening': Winnipeg family's dog shot in rural Manitoba
Dog's leg was amputated, family left with $3,500 in vet bills after shooting near Balmoral, Man.
A Winnipeg family is looking for answers after their dog Ellie, a six-year-old lab cross, was shot near Balmoral, Man., about 45 kilometres north of the city.
"A nightmare, in one word, that's what it was," Ryan Dunlop told CBC News. "It's sickening how somebody could do that to a family pet."
Ellie was staying at Dunlop's parents' Balmoral-area home on March 4 when the dog was shot.
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Ellie was running off-leash with another dog on the rural property just after 8 a.m. when Dunlop's mother heard what sounded like a gun shot. She called the dogs back into the yard and when they came running, she saw Ellie was bleeding from her right hind leg.
"It shattered the bone and it blew a big piece of muscle out," Dunlop said. "It was very bad."
The dog was rushed to a veterinary clinic in Stonewall, where she underwent surgery to have her leg amputated.
"[It was] heartbreaking, absolutely heartbreaking, just knowing there's nothing I could do for her," Dunlop said.
"The biggest challenge is ... to have to explain to our young daughter why her puppy only has three legs."
The family has no idea who may have shot the dog, or why. A spokesperson for the RCMP said officers interviewed people in the area and are still investigating.
Police are asking anyone with information to call the Stonewall RCMP detachment.
"We're lucky to have her, that's for sure," Dunlop said. "I just want the public to watch their dogs and hope that this doesn't happen to somebody else."
On Tuesday, Ellie was brought back to the family's Winnipeg home. Dunlop and his wife have taken time off work to help their dog adjust to life with three legs.
A relative has also set up an online fundraiser to help the family cover roughly $3,500 in vet bills associated with Ellie's surgery.
Not the first dog shot
Justin Sowa, a bylaw officer in the Rural Municipality of Rockwood, was not made aware of this incident, but said it's not the first time a dog has been shot in the area.
"It is very unfortunate. We don't ever like to hear of anybody having their pets shot like that," he said.
While such incidents are rare, Sowa said, dogs are shot on occasion by farmers in an effort to protect livestock.
There are provisions in Manitoba's Wildlife Act that allow landowners to use lethal methods to deal with predators if they're doing so to protect their property.
Even when dogs are in the country, Sowa said it's important pet owners keep them fenced in or on a leash.
"People need to be liable for their pets. If they're out running and they get hit by a car, or they attack livestock, it would not be a surprise to me if [the owners] were ever held to account to pay for those damages," he said.
