Rescue Dog Shot Several Times by Unidentified Suspect, Police Still on the Lookout for Culprit
The loyalty of a good dog knows no bounds, but sometimes the human who receives that loyalty isn’t worthy of it.
That certainly seems to be the case of a pit bull dubbed Frank, who was recently rescued from a horrifying situation in Manassas Park, Virginia.
On April 26, a man named Rafael was witness to a heartbreaking sight. He said that he was outside with his dog on the balcony when he heard gunshots.
Next, Rafael saw a man burst out of the woods, getting into a black SUV and driving off — and behind him, struggling, was a dog that had been shot six times.
“The dog, if anything, looked confused why, that, you know, the door closed on him,” Rafael told WRC-TV. “It was kind of heartbreaking seeing that.”
When police arrived, they found the dog in the woods by following his blood trail, and they rushed him to MedVet Nothern Virginia, which took him in and cared for him. Thankfully, community donations are being used to cover the extensive medical care he needed.
“This morning the City of Manassas Park Police Department was called to a situation where a dog had been shot,” MedVet Northern Virginia posted on Facebook on April 26. “They rushed the pup over to our emergency medicine team. Because of their quick work, we are happy to report the pup is stable and recovering at our facility.”
On May 3, the animal hospital gave an update on the pup, who now has a following and plenty of people hoping that the person who did this to him is caught and brought to justice.
“Kevin, what we’ve unofficially named him, had his second set of surgeries to fix those wounds to his neck and to amputate his hind leg,” the center shared. “Despite this, we don’t think Kevin plans on slowing down!”
“His recovery is getting better each day. Our team is sure to give him those extra snuggles, because they definitely help with the healing process.”
The City of Manassas Park Police Department will be handling Kevin’s adoption once he’s recovered and the time comes to find him a more loving family. In the meantime, they’re continuing to look for the perpetrator.
“Our detectives are still working hard following up on leads; however, this case is going to take the help of everyone in our community,” the police department wrote in a Facebook post. “Someone knows his owner, or where he lives at. We hope his veterinary office recognizes him and comes forward.”
In another interview, Police Captain Frank Winston said that his team believed that the dog’s behavior during the crime suggests that he knew the man — a testament to the dog’s good nature despite the terrible crime that took place.
“The only thing I can describe is that if a pet, or a dog, would follow somebody back out of the woods after being shot multiple times — that, that shows the love that that animal had for that person,” Winston said.
The person responsible for Kevin’s suffering, if located, faces both animal cruelty and gun crime charges.
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