Animal Cruelty: Pit Bull Shot With Arrow In Utah, Left For Dead

In recent months, pit bulls have been subject to violence against there breed, whether the dog was a pit bull or not. Most often, the violence has been in form of shootings, but at least one case, a knife was used.

In the prior cases, there were at least alleged reasons or predication, whether true or untrue. In this instance in Utah, it it just plain animal cruelty. A pit bull in Southern Utah is fighting for it’s life after being found, left for dead, with an arrow in it Friday morning.

Southern Utah has been the site of grisly animal cruelty this past week. As St. George News reported Thursday, a black cat named Khepri was viciously murdered.

“Horrified pet owner Sherry Teresa found her cat dead and mutilated Saturday night on Anasazi Plateau in Springdale and is offering a $2,500 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person responsible. The potential case of animal cruelty has a Springdale neighborhood on high alert after the cat was found severed in half. Teresa said her cat was trapped, drained of blood, surgically cut in half and had his heart and lungs removed before being left outside her home.”

Twenty minutes from Ivin, Utah, a sergeant with the Washington Country Sheriff’s office found the injured pit bull on old Highway 91. The officer called Ivin animal control officer Aggie Smith to respond to the scene, according to St. George News.

Officer Smith said she has been “doing this for nine years” and admits she has not seen anything “that bad.”

“Smith and Bowen initially thought the dog had been shot with a gun. A veterinarian later determined the dog had been shot by an arrow – likely titanium or aluminum, as there were no wood fragments found inside the dog. The dog was shot from behind, Smith said, and the arrow went all the way up to its stomach, nicking its intestines in two or three places and injuring the outer area of its pancreas. The arrow blew out the area underneath the dog’s stomach, Smith said, and the dog’s interior fat was pushed out as a result of the injury, which ultimately saved its life.”

Officer Smith said she could not determine whether the pit bull was brought there for “target practice” or whether it was abandoned, as the area is known to be a dumping ground for unwanted animals.

According to St. George News, the animal control officer said that most animals in a similar circumstance would become aggressive, but the pit bull kept wagging it’s tail like it was “happy to see somebody”.

The pit bull underwent a three hour surgery, and is expected to recover. The country sheriff offered and paid for the pit bull’s surgery and treatment. Unfortunately “Remy”, as the shelter named the pit, will need to be adopted or money donated to house him at the shelter.

Sadly, this is not the only case of pit bull’s being the target of bows and arrows. KOKH-TV News in Oklahoma City reported a similar incident, but in this case was a family pet. Another incident, reported by KRMG News in Tulsa, was “allegedly” self defense when an 18 year shot an arrow into a pit bull’s side.

In the Utah cases of animal cruelty, it is yet unknown if the cat and pit bull case are in anyway related.