Dog shot with rock salt??

I received a disturbing email about the possibility of someone shooting animals with rock salt in the Red Hill Bowl park. The email is below:

Hi Bernard,

Just to brief you on Hoss's story, we discovered about two weeks ago that his ear was bleeding.  He had been playing in the yard and down in the ravine, so we thought he might have got brushed by some thorns or something, but a couple of days later, two other sores showed up, and we noticed his other ear had a mark on it.  We tried cleaning them up, but his one ear started to swell too much, so we took him to our vet.  He spent all day there.  They had to sedate him, shave the spots, and discovered that he had several holes that were abscesses, and they concluded that he had been possibly shot with rock salt.  They explained that the salt eats away at the flesh, festers and starts to abscess.  That is why the sores were popping up randomly.  We asked for a second opinion, and another Technician told us the same thing.  The wounds were consistent to him being shot at with rock salt. 

Hoss is never left unsupervised unless he is in the yard, (which backs onto Red Hill Bowl Park).  Around the time this all happened, Hoss was in the yard alone one night, and began barking uncontrollably...which is unusual.  He's so mild tempered, and always quiet, I was worried that something was wrong.  I tried calling him in, and when he finally came to me, he was barking at me.  I just felt that something was wrong, but being home alone, I just brought him in, and locked the doors.  Not sure if that's when it happened.  My husband later that night said possibly it was a skunk or a raccoon that just got too close to the fence.  I have never heard any shots, or saw any suspicious people around, but his injuries could not be explained any other way.  We did report it to the Police, and they said there had been no other reports of this, but that they would be aware of the situation. 

With lots of meds, and cleaning solutions, drops etc....Hoss is starting to heal.  It has been a long couple of weeks, and has left us all a little shaken.  Our poor boy didn't deserve this, as you know Bernard, you would never find a more loyal, mild mannered, gentle soul as our Hoss.

I am hoping that this never happens again, and maybe just by putting the story out there, we can make other people aware of the situation, and possibly find out if this has happened recently to another pet somewhere.

Again Bernard, thank you for doing this....it can't hurt to get the story out there!  Let me know if you receive this OK, and post your blog when you get it done.  Hugs to you!!

Ciao my friend....keep up the good work!!

Judy


Below are pictures from the injuries. Keep an eye out on your animals and any suspicious activity in regards to your pets. If anyone else has a story like this, don't hesitate to contact the Hamilton Community Blog and the Hamilton Police Department. There is a sick human being out there who is hurting defenseless animals, they can be capable of anything. Spread the word and keep an eye out.