A woman in the US state of Indiana is recovering after her ‘trigger-happy’ dog shot her in the foot in a bizarre hunting accident.
Jonathon Boyd, an Indiana conservation officer, said 25-year-old Allie Carter was out hunting waterfowl on Saturday in the north of the state. According to Mr Boyd, she had put down her 12-gauge shotgun when her chocolate Labrador stepped on it (accidentally we assume), shooting her in the foot. To add insult to injury – and with a great twist of irony – the dog is named Trigger.
Mr Boyd said she suffered injuries to her left foot and toes and has since been released from hospital. However, this incident is not as isolated or unusual as you would think. Since 2011 there have been numerous incidents in the good ol’ USA of man’s best friend being more like a worst enemy.
In December 2014 Richard Fipps of Wyoming was accidentally shot in the left arm by his dog when it jumped on his .300 Winchester Magnum rifle which was sitting in the backseat of his pick-up with the safety off. Similarly, in February 2013, 35-year-old Gregory Dale Lanier from Florida was shot in the leg when his dog kicked a 9mm semi-automatic pistol that was lying on the floor of his truck.
Also in 2013, a Minnesota man was accidentally shot in the leg while on a duck-hunting trip when his dog jumped in the boat landing on his loaded shotgun, causing it to fire. The incident was investigated by the sheriff’s office but no criminal charges were filed.
The combination of duck-hunting and dogs seems to be a dangerous one – In autumn 2011, two men were hunting on the Great Salt Lake in Utah. One of them laid his 12-gauge shotgun across the bow of the boat and climbed out to retrieve decoys. While the man was in the water, his dog stepped on his shotgun, firing 27 pellets into the man’s arse from roughly 10 feet away.
That’s what his mate says anyway.
