Lucky Labrador survives arrow

The Associate Press

CRYSTAL CITY, Mo. -- A direct hit from a bow-and-arrow was a near-miss for a 1-year-old black Labrador folks are now calling Lucky Luther.

Luther was found along a Jefferson County road earlier this month, with an arrow poking out the left side of his head after striking him below his right ear, authorities said.

He was carried into the Jones Animal Health Clinic in Crystal City the evening of Oct. 9. Now, the county sheriff's department is trying to determine whether the arrow got there by mistake or on purpose.

"This was clearly intentional. It would be a pretty far stretch to mistake a black Lab for a deer," said Dr. Thomas Butch Jones, the veterinarian who treated Luther. "You don't hit a dog this way in an accident."

The arrow missed Luther's brain and spine, and Jones said damage to the dog's throat muscles will heal in time. He said the resident who found Luther decided to keep the dog, who he expects to be a fine pet for years to come.

Judging by how the arrow was situated, Jones said a hunter may have shot Luther at close range.

Jones said he thinks a hunter may have worried the dog would scare away deer. He said he treats several pets each year that have been maimed by hunters, often on purpose.

"A lot of hunters take the hunt as seriously as a religion, and anything that gets in their way is going to get blasted to kingdom come," Jones said.

He said Luther was probably shot two to three hours before he was found.

Jean Woolery, director of the Jefferson County Humane Society, said pets often are injured in hunting season.

"Unfortunately, we get something along these lines every year," Woolery said. "That's why I tell people to keep their pets inside, or to try to supervise them while they're outside."