EXCLUSIVE
A “sweet and loving” puppy was shot in the face “execution-style” and left for dead – but somehow made a miraculous recovery, as police launch a hunt for the mysterious attacker.
Chunky Baby, a five-month-old Kelpie Cross, went missing from his home in Bogan Gate, a town with a population of just 300 in central west New South Wales, between 11am and 3pm last Wednesday.
The “small and vulnerable” pup was found by another dog walker completely unconscious and with a small wound between his eyes at around 3pm the following day, lying outside a set of grain silos about five minutes from his home.
Chunky Baby was rushed to Lachlan Valley Vets where a dangerously high temperature of 42.5 degrees was recorded.
But the vet was horrified to discover the dog had been “intentionally” shot between the eyes with a rifle.
The bullet narrowly missed Chunky Baby’s brain, and fragments scattered throughout his skull and the bullet lodged in his lungs.
“It’s incredibly horrible,” Chunky Baby’s owner Maidie Wood told Daily Mail Australia.
“She’s a tiny, vulnerable animal who would have been very scared, and to think that someone would have walked up to her and shot a sweet little puppy in the face. What a sick and dangerous person to have in the community!”
Chunky Baby, a five-month-old Kelpie Cross (pictured), went missing from his home in Bogan Gate, a town with a population of just 300 in central west New South Wales, between 11am and 3pm last Wednesday.
The “small and vulnerable” pup was found by another dog walker completely unconscious and with a small wound between his eyes at around 3pm the following day outside a set of grain silos about five minutes from his home.
Farmers can legally kill dogs if they reasonably believe the animal may injure or kill livestock on their property.
But Chunky Baby’s owner said the pup was not found near livestock and even if he had been, he would not pose a threat because “he would run into a corner if you said ‘boo’ to him.”
“It’s very worrying. He’s a puppy, he’s five months old and he’s a very shy dog,” she said.
“If you raise your voice even if you’re excited, he gets nervous. All he wants to do is hug you. Who would do that?”
Ms Wood, 42, is currently in a trauma ward at a Sydney hospital, where she has been receiving treatment for the past six weeks for an unrelated episode of PTSD linked to a historical workplace injury.
The former global marketing chief left Chunky Baby, her Irish wolfhound cross, Barnaby, and her cat, George, in the care of a local friend who has been house-sitting.
“Last Wednesday, I got a text from the gentleman who’s staying at my house saying that Chunky Baby was missing and that he was completely devastated and didn’t know how to tell me, that he’d been looking for him all night,” Wood added.
The vet was horrified to discover that the dog had been “intentionally” shot between the eyes with a rifle (pictured)
Incredibly, the bullet narrowly missed Chunky Baby’s brain, with fragments passing through his skull and the bullet lodged in his lungs (pictured: white dot at bottom right of image)
Ms Wood said the news came as a shock to her already fragile state but she sprang into action, calling the local RSPCA, pound and posting on social media.
A local dog walker later discovered Chunky Baby lying “completely unconscious” next to a set of grain silos across the road from the Bogan Gate pub.
He was rushed to the vet, where they feared he had been exposed to toxins because his temperature was 42.5 degrees, putting him at risk of irreversible brain damage.
Fortunately, her temperature quickly dropped.
“But then the vet noticed a patch of skin on his nose, between his eyes, and realized it was a hole,” Wood added.
‘He took an X-ray and could see that a bullet had entered the hole. But he said that whoever shot him had misjudged the angle because it hadn’t entered. had not only gone straight between his eyes, but had gone down his long, pointed snout and lodged in his lungs.
“When she told me, I screamed. I said, “What do you mean?” and she said, “H“He was intentionally shot in the face with a gun.” The prognosis was absolutely bleak, so I prepared for the worst.
The incident has left Ms Wood shaken and she fears the attacker may be someone who wishes to do her personal harm.
The vet is unable to remove the bullet fragments because specialist surgery is required at a major veterinary hospital in Sydney or Canberra.
However, against all odds, Chunky Baby began blinking and moving his legs again the next day.
On Saturday, he was sent a photo of himself sitting down, which he initially thought was a joke in bad taste.
But it was the vet who was equally amazed by Chunky Baby’s recovery.
She was so sure he was missing that she called Forbes police to gather information as part of a possible criminal investigation.
“IThe vet said: “The only diagnosis I can give is that this is a miracle. It’s just inexplicable,” Wood added.
Amazingly, Chunky Baby is now eating solid foods and walking on his own.
“He“He’s extremely exhausted and quite slow, so there’s obviously some damage there,” Ms Wood said.
“But it seems that he will survive this incident. The partners of the veterinary clinic have renamed him ‘Miracle Baby’.”
Bogan Gate is a town with a population of just 300 in central west New South Wales.
Pictured: Chunky Baby and Mrs Wood’s other dog, George
Ms Wood, who moved to Bogan Gate from Sydney in June last year, was full of praise for the vets, whom she described as “miracle workers”.
Grace Ranger, a veterinary nurse at Lachlan Valley Vets, said the team had “never seen anything like this”.
“You don’t expect an animal to survive something like that,” he said.
“He has pellets and gunshot fragments all over his skull and yet he is walking, eating and appears to be very conscious, which is very surprising.”
Ms Ranger said police had examined the X-ray and thought Chunky Baby had been shot with a .22 calibre rifle.
“There are only about 100 people at Bogan Gate, and then there’s a lot of farming next door, so I don’t know if he just came onto someone’s property and obviously the farmers have guns for the wild pests,” he said.
“Maybe they shot him because they thought he was a fox or a wild dog. Obviously someone wasn’t very happy and decided to shoot him.
“But the placement of the bullet is strange because it’s right between the eyes. It looks like an execution. If it had been a random shot, I would think it would have been in the body or the legs.”
The vet cannot remove the bullet fragments because specialist surgery is required at a major veterinary hospital in Sydney or Canberra.
Mrs. Wood is Currently fundraising to pay for Chunky Baby’s ongoing care.
The incident left her shaken and she fears the attacker may be someone who wishes to do her personal harm.
“I moved to Bogan Gate to start over and feel at peace and safe in a completely new environment,” she said.
“I’m in the middle of nowhere, with no one I know. And right now I don’t feel particularly safe.”
She added: “I’ve been told it must be someone who knows me or knows about me. In a small place like Bogan Gate, everyone knows who each dog belongs to.”
She added: “Obviously I’m scared for my own safety, but I’m going to be very scared for the dogs.”
“It’s really horrible because what was supposed to be my quiet, peaceful little place is now really scary.”
Despite the vet’s police report, Ms Wood only heard back from police after this publication began investigating the story.
A New South Wales Police spokesman said: ‘Officers attached to the Central West Police District have launched an investigation following reports that a dog with a gunshot wound from Bogan Gate was taken to a local vet in Forbes on Friday 23rd August 2024, the dog is alive and well.
‘While enquiries continue, anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.’
