Niverville woman stunned after dog shot by pellet gun

A Niverville woman is shocked and concerned after she says her dog was shot by a pellet gun.

Erin Thomas noticed something in her dog’s paw on Friday morning.

“I was cleaning his paws, and I noticed a piece of something in his leg,” Thomas said. “Is that metal? What is that doing there? I used my tweezers and it was from a pellet gun.”

“It was kind of shocking, I started freaking out wondering when it came from.”

She says she remembers her dog, Tanner, barking excessively outside on Thursday but didn’t think anything of it.

“This is insane, why would someone want to shoot a dog?” she said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "This is insane, why would someone want to shoot a dog?" she said.

Thomas, who lives right off Main Street in Niverville, is concerned that an incident like this took place so close to town.

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She says there is a playhouse in her backyard which Tanner likes to sit on. She figures this is where the dog was when the incident happened as the playhouse rises several feet over her backyard fence.

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Her immediate reaction was to let others in the area know about what had happened, so she posted a photo to social media.

“People in town need to be aware, need to check dogs to make sure it’s not a fluke.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "People in town need to be aware, need to check dogs to make sure it's not a fluke."

Thomas also reported the incident to the RCMP.

A trip to the vet resulted in one stitch for Tanner, a four-year-old Bernese Mountain Dog and Border Collie cross, and he is as energetic as ever, according to Thomas.

But this incident has her keeping an eye out at all times.

“It’s to the point where I refuse to let him outside, without me or my husband being outside with him,” she said.

“I’m still in shock and very angered and frustrated. Someone in town shooting a pellet gun scares me beyond belief. With the way the pellet was positioned, it was no ricochet, this was a straight shot.”