A local family is reeling after one of their dogs was shot in Cranbrook's industrial area last week.
Tammy Pocha said her dog Saint is recovering at home after having his front right leg amputated because of the injuries he sustained when shot sometime between Sunday, Nov. 3 and Tuesday, Nov. 5 around Theatre Road.
"He's doing awesome. He has adjusted so well. His ears have come back up so it's a good sign," she said.
But there has been no sign of the family’s other dog, Duke, who was with Saint when he was injured.
Both dogs are German Shepherds.
“We drive and we call and we walk, and it’s like, okay, where else can we look?” said Tammy.
On the evening of Sunday, Nov. 3, Tammy left her home in Slaterville to go for a walk.
“I shut the porch (door) so the dogs wouldn’t follow me, but I guess I didn’t shut it enough and I guess they started following me, but I didn’t know this.”
Her husband, Trevor McKay, phoned her shortly after to ask if the dogs where with her. They weren’t, and the family began a mad two-day search of the city’s western boundary looking for the two beloved pets.
On Tuesday, they finally got news. The SPCA phoned to say that Saint had been brought into the centre, badly injured, and they were taking him to Tanglefoot Veterinary Clinic.
Tammy learned that a police officer with a police dog had seen Saint beside Theatre Road on Tuesday near BA Blacktop. Unable to take Saint with his own dog, the officer flagged down a passing driver, who offered to take Saint to the SPCA.
Tammy doesn’t know who that good Samaritan is, but she is grateful.
“I just wanted to say thanks for taking him there.”
After the SPCA called Tammy, she rushed to the vet clinic, where she heard disturbing news: Saint had been shot twice. One of the .22 bullets was mostly stopped by Saint’s collar, but the second ripped into the dog’s shoulder.
“The second one, he was looking eye-to-eye at the person. And he got shot in the shoulder, where it shattered all the bone,” said Tammy.
Veterinarians were forced to amputate Saint’s leg at the shoulder.
Tammy can’t understand what would prompt somebody to shoot her dogs, which she describes as friendly, loving animals. She is desperate for information.
“Just let us know – if they were doing something wrong, or why?”
The family, including her 11- and 15-year-old children, have been looking high and low for Duke for two weeks without a trace.
“I’m hoping, I really am, that he’s still out there. We drive and we call and we walk, and it’s like, okay, where else can we look?”
Tammy asks that anyone who might know what happened to Duke and Saint, please contact Cranbrook RCMP at 250-489-3471. If you have seen Duke, please phone 250-426-7589.
“All I want to know is if Duke is out there or what happened. That’s my biggest thing. So my kids can kind of ease on it too,” said Tammy. “If he’s gone, just let me know.”