JACKSON TWP., Preble County — UPDATE (June 30, 2020)
A dog that was discovered with a gunshot wound to the head back in February is all healed up from the bullet, but still battling other health issues.
“The mass in her lung has started to grow very rapidly. And she coughs a lot. Our time is limited but we are making the most of everyday,” Betty’s foster mom, Tracy Kim, tells us.
Kim and her husband just got back from a trip to Hocking Hills that they took with Betty.
Though still suffering through some health issues, the lab is living a life most didn’t think she would get to when she was found.
“She loves to ride in the car and loves ice cream,” Kim says. “She’s loving every day!”
Original Report (Feb. 18, 2020)
A dog that somehow survived a gunshot to the head turned up earlier this month on the front porch of a farmhouse near New Paris.
The yellow Labrador retriever or shar pei mix now named Betty is getting ready for a procedure to close the wound. The bullet will remain in her head.
>> PHOTOS: Wounded Betty the Lab finds care, comfort in foster home
“We’re gonna close up the wound on her head on Friday, but not going to put her through trying to remove the bullet, it would just be so invasive for her,” said Tracy Kim, who is now caring for the dog in Butler County.“So they’re going to close it up and see what happens.”
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News Center 7's John Bedell spoke to Lauren Kohli, the woman who found the dog and put her in touch with a rescue.
“This is man’s best friend who was betrayed,” Kohli said.
She and her husband were outside Feb. 6 on their property returning back up the drive to their house when Kohli spotted something.
“There’s a dog laying on my doormat as if she lived here,” said Kohli, who noted the dog was “super, super sweet, not a mean bone in her body, very well behaved.”
The dog had injuries, including a hole on the top of her head, and was dirty, but none of her neighbors said they knew anything about where she belonged.
An animal rescue organization took her to a veterinarian, which determined the dog had been shot with a .45 caliber bullet, and her wound was infected.
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“I was shocked. Obviously, you could tell she wasn’t feeling well, but I mean really she acted so normal,” Kohli said. “This is a miracle. This dog was meant to end up on my porch and these people were meant to take this dog in and care for her.”
Betty is estimated to be about 10. Vets also discovered a possible cancerous mass on her lung. The plan is to close the gunshot wound, aggressively treat the infection and to keep her comfortable.
“We don’t know how much time she has left. It could be days, weeks or months. Right now she is in comfort care,” Kohli said. “I feel good to know that her last days are going to be the best.”
The farm is near the Ohio-Indiana state line, but the sheriff’s offices in Preble and Wayne counties said they had not taken an official report.