A MAN has owned up to shooting a four-year-old dog with a .22 calibre rifle on the semi-rural border of Cockburn and Kwinana.

On returning home from school on August 17, two of Michelle Radis’ teenage daughters found their big sister’s dog, Hunter, curled up on the front doorstep in a pool of blood.

Initially Ms Radis thought the dog had been kicked in the head by a horse, but when she took him to the vet, they removed a bullet from his neck.

• Hunter was feeling low after being shot in the neck (below).

Lucky puppy

“The bullet went in his right cheek and lodged on the left side of his neck – he is one very lucky puppy,” says Ms Radis.

The Herald understands a neighbour came forward to the RSPCA and told them he shot Hunter because the dog was on his property and threatening his rare birds.

Ms Radis says the vet who treated Hunter said the wound was from a long-range shot and because the dog was not aggressive, he would have been scared off with a warning shot.

Ms Radis says the neighbour also shot at another of her dogs, a small blue healer cross.

No witnesses

“If the bullet had hit my smaller dog, it would have died,” she says.

“Because there are no witnesses and the incident occurred on a rural property, the RSPCA can’t do anything.”

Ms Radis, who lives with her family on a five-acre property in Wandi, is now putting up perimeter fencing and zap collars to stop Hunter, a boxer/bullmastiff cross, escaping.

“Hunter is now at home resting after the main part of the bullet was removed, but the X-ray showed fragments in his legs and being so close to the brain, the vets advised us to get a CT scan which is unfortunately another $1,500 on top of the $1,300 it has already cost,” she says.

The family has set up a crowdfunding appeal to help cover the costs of Hunter’s medical treatment.

by STEPHEN POLLOCK