Dog Shoots Owner, Owner Defends Him
Who's a good boy? Apparently Charlie is!
Charlie, a 120-pound Rottweiler mix, accidentally shot his human owner last week when he caught his paw on the trigger of a hunting rifle.
When it happened, victim Tex Harold Gilligan said he was confused as to where it could've come from. He was alone on a trip to hunt jackrabbits in the New Mexico desert with his 3 dogs, Charlie, Scooter, and Cowboy. For a moment he thought that he might've been hit by a sniper in the distance!
He rolled out of his truck and called 911. The New Mexico State Police, the Doña Ana County Sheriff's office, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection all quickly arrived on the scene, finding Gilligan on the ground near his truck with a gunshot wound in his chest.
As he told Sun News, "The DASO (Doña Ana County Sheriff's Office) first-responders saved my life. If they waited 10 more minutes I would’ve died. I lost so much blood. I know I actually passed to the other side just before getting to the hospital but they were able to revive me through CPR and bring me back. I have so much appreciation to the doctors and first-responders who saved my life."
Spooky.
It appears that the gun was set barrel-up towards Gilligan on floorboard of the backseat of the truck. Charlie, who had been sitting in the front seat, slipped and caught his claw on the trigger, firing through the front seat at Gilligan.
Talking with ABC News, Gilligan said, "It went through my ribs my lung and busted up my collarbone on the right side. I had a gaping hole, you know, and a lot of blood there too. I could see the blood and I felt it."
Grisly... but it looks like the 74-year-old is going to be okay.
Gilligan's son, Mark, isn't surprised to hear that one of his dad's dogs caused such a mess. "They're kind of rowdy. They’re pretty rambunctious and full of energy," Mark said. "That’s why the owners gave them up. My dad has four acres of land so they can run free. So, it didn’t surprise me at all. When they see a cow or other animal they want to jump in the front."
Tex Gilligan clearly loves his dogs. He got 3 broken ribs, a broken collarbone, and punctured a lung, but he's not holding a grudge. "He didn't mean to do it," he said. "He's a good dog."
(Photo credits: Tex Gilligan / ABC News and Mark Gilligan / Sun News)
