Dog survives gunshot to face

SCOPUS, Mo. -- Bud and Penny Wiesner had been there before. A desperate dog with nowhere to go. A difficult choice.

But when this Bollinger County couple who have already adopted six dogs got a look at the puppy hiding underneath their porch, it took their breath away.

"I was a cop, and we responded to homicides. This dog was worse than autopsy pictures," said Bud Wiesner.

The 6-month-old dog, the couple and veterinarians believe, had been shot at relatively close range by a firearm. The impact on the right side of its face took its eye out and left a crater so deep "you could stick your fist in it."

The dog, a mixed-breed Airedale, had been hiding under the porch for more than two days and had been shot about two weeks earlier. The Wiesners coaxed him out of his hiding place by running water into the space and shining a flashlight.

He was skinny from not having eaten but still in good spirits.

"He was just wagging his tail, not howling or whimpering," said Bud Wiesner.

The Wiesners promptly took the dog to Bollinger County Veterinary Service in Marble Hill half-expecting to pay for the dog to be euthanized.

"They saw his personality was so wonderful, all the vets said 'we're going to try to do something,'" Bud Wiesner said.

Vets cleaned out the wound and packed it with granulated sugar. The Wiesners spent about $460 for the process and then welcomed the dog into their home.

They decided only one name could sum up this mutt's experience: Shotsie.

"I like to name them that way. It's like we have a cat, and we call him Killmouskie," Bud Wiesner said.

Now, two months later, the retired couple originally from Allentown, Pa., have nursed Shotsie back to health.

Shotsie lives outside in a small fenced enclosure where he watches over the farm's horses, cattle, ducks and chickens and loves being around people. Even during the first weeks after surgery when Shotsie's gauze needed to be replaced every day, the dog did not bark or bite, they say. He just kept wagging his tail.

"He has a great personality, always happy to see you," Penny Wiesner said.

They are now looking for someone to adopt Shotsie.

"It can't be just anybody; we won't give him up until we find a home that is really good for him," Penny Wiesner said.

Those interested in adopting Shotsie may call the Safe Harbor No-Kill Animal Sanctuary in Jackson at 243-9823.

With the discovery of Shotsie, the Wiesners, who have adopted stray dogs ranging from a tiny Dachsund to a big Irish terrier, think they have noticed a disturbing pattern. People come to their neck of the woods to drop off unwanted pets.

"Why, why, why do people living in the cities around Bollinger and Cape Girardeau counties think that when they have an unwanted puppy that the people living in the country could use another one," Bud Wiesner wrote in a letter to the Marble Hill Banner Press.

The Wiesners can only assume that the strays coming to their home over the years have had some special guidance.

"They find us; we don't find them," Bud Wiesner said.

"I think everybody is just here for a reason," his wife said. "So I don't know, maybe this is our reason."

tgreaney@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 245