Gemma, a flat-coated retriever, wandered around for two days in Michigan, US with an arrow sticking out the top of her head before she found caring hands to save her.
The blue and yellow arrow, fired from a crossbow, protruded straight up above her left eye narrowly missed the approximately 2-year-old dog's brain and optic nerve.
"It's a miracle," said Aimee Orn, chief animal control officer for Lapeer County. "It missed everything important by millimeters."
Now, Ms Orn said, authorities are seeking felony animal cruelty charges against the dog's owner, who told investigators he shot the retriever in the head with a crossbow after she allegedly acted aggressively toward his other dog, a pug.
The wounded dog, which weighs about 50 pounds, came up to a construction worker, Ms Orn said. The pooch was taken to a local veterinarian, who took X-rays and removed the arrow.
Authorities received a tip from one of the dog owner's relatives, who heard rumors that the man had shot his dog. They talked with neighbors to identify the dog and spoke with the owner, a 28-year-old Goodland Township man, Ms Orn said. She did not name him because he has not been charged.
The owner claimed the dog was acting aggressively toward his other dog. He said he put the retriever in a vehicle and drove her north on back country roads, where he released the dog and shot her in the head with a crossbow Saturday night, Ms Orn said.
She said he told authorities that he brought something in which to bury the dog, but when he came back to the area from getting the item out of his truck, the dog was gone. He then left without her.
Ms Orn said authorities have heard other stories about why the man shot the dog, including that she defecated in the house and that he doesn't pay attention to her and she runs through the neighborhood.
"Regardless, there are too many other options these days if you don't want a dog other than taking it out in a field and shooting it," Ms Orn said.
She said Gemma is recovering at animal control and is not expected to have long-term effects from the injury.
Orn said her office will try to get the owner to sign off on the dog so it can find a new home. First, Gemma has to pass tests to check for aggressiveness with other dogs, though Ms Orn said that animal control has not noticed such tendencies with Gemma.
Ms Orn — who spent 11 years with Macomb County Animal Control until she became the chief animal control officer in Lapeer County about three months ago — said she has seen odd cruelty cases through the years. But this, she said, was a first.
Since the incident, Ms Orn's office has been flooded with dozens of calls from people wanting to adopt Gemma.
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