An American man shot by his pet Rottweiler mix insists the "loving" dog "didn't mean to do it".
New Mexico man Sonny Gillian was driving to a hunt with his three dogs when he was suddenly shot in the chest, reports The Independent.
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Initially thinking he had been hit by a trained sniper, Mr Gilligan said he was confused because he couldn't see anyone around that could have shot him, despite having a "gaping hole" in his chest.
"I thought, 'Who was that?'" said Mr Gilligan. "I was there, isolated, nobody was around".
But investigators believe the culprit was the man's pet dog Charlie, a 54kg Rottweiler mix, who could have got his paw caught in the trigger of a gun Mr Gilligan has placed in his truck's front seat.
"The gun was positioned in the truck with the barrel facing up, towards Mr Gilligan," Doña Ana County Sheriff's spokeswoman Kelly Jameson told ABC News.
Despite all three of the dogs being sent to an animal centre, or what Mr Gilligan refers to as "jail", Mr Gilligan is sure Charlie didn't mean to do it because "he's a good dog".
"Truth is, Charlie's a big, loving dog and would never hurt anybody on purpose," he said.
But his son isn't too sure.
"[The dogs are] pretty rambunctious and full of energy," he 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".
Mr Gilligan had three broken ribs, a punctured lung, and a broken scapula. He is currently being treated at a Texas medical centre.
Newshub.
