Holden , Logan County , West Virginia

Marsha Ferrell said Wilson, a pit bull-collie mix, was a gentle dog who enjoyed playing with her brother’s Chihuahuas.

“He wasn’t vicious; he hardly ever barked,” the Logan County resident said. “He was my baby; he was my buddy.”

Wilson’s gentle nature made it that much more difficult when the unthinkable happened – the beloved pet was shot in the chest with a hunting arrow and had to be put to sleep at a Charleston animal hospital. The veterinarian who treated the animal said she believes the shooting was intentional.

Ferrell said the dog was playing outside about 2:30 p.m. Nov. 27 and showed up at her neighbor’s home in Holden with the arrow protruding from his chest. She attempted to get treatment at animal care facilities in Logan and Danville, but they were unable to care for him. Animal Care Associates on Oakwood Road in Charleston agreed to treat Wilson.

Veterinarian Ruthann Vandevender said the arrow was protruding about 8 inches from Wilson’s chest. “The dog was in shock,” Vandevender said. “The extent of the damage was so severe that the most humane thing was to put the dog to sleep.”

The veterinarian said she believes the shooting was intentional. “This was not an accident,” she said. “For the arrow to have the trajectory that it did, it was not just a dog running loose and somebody shot it with an arrow. The way the arrow was in the dog, the chance of being an accident is slim to none.”

Ferrell said she has an idea who may have shot Wilson, and she is talking to a game warden with the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources. She said the dog was actually owned by her daughter, and Ferrell took care of him because her daughter travels a lot for her job.

Wilson had yet to celebrate his first birthday, and he had become a part of the family. Ferrell said she cannot believe anyone would be that cruel to such a great animal. “It was awful,” she said. “It was like a deer. The arrow was still sticking in him when we took him to the vet.”

Vandevender said anyone who would be that cruel to an animal would do much more. “You worry about what people may do next to a person if they would harm an animal,” she said.

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