By Karen Brownlee

Dogs rescued near Lestock, 1 shot in face

Dec 5, 2014 | 6:18 AM

A dog named Wilson is recovering from being shot in the face after he and his family of pups were found by Good Samaritans near Lestock and taken to the Regina Humane Society.

Wilson was with the mother dog and their eight pups when they were found huddled in the basement of an abandoned farm house.

The mother and the pups were dirty, dehydrated and malnourished, but Wilson’s condition was more severe. He had a broken jaw and bullet fragments embedded inside his mouth.

His injuries weren’t obvious at first.

“They were very difficult to see because in this case, he was shot inside the mouth,” said Lisa Koch, executive director of the Regina Humane Society.

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Because the dogs had been abandoned for some time, Koch doesn’t think they’ll be able to find the person responsible for Wilson’s injury.

“I think it would be very difficult to determine how it happened,” she said.

Wilson was helped with surgery done by the Western College of Veterinary Medicine in Saskatoon.

Today, he is living with a foster family, where he will remain for the next six weeks.

“He’ll be in some pain for a little while yet and a bit uncomfortable, but he just tolerates it like a true champ,” said Koch, who said he’s eating a soup-like substance since he can’t use his jaw.

Wilson will need to return to Saskatoon to have the fixater that is holding his jaw in place removed. The surgery was possible because of the generosity of an anonymous volunteer who paid for the procedure in memory of animal lover Jim Hastie.

The mother dog, named Winnie, and her eight pups are up for adoption as of Friday.

“They’re little mini versions of Wilson,” said Koch of the puppies. Wilson is a one-year-old shepherd collie cross.

“Despite (what) all these dogs have been through, particularly Wilson with the injury and living in the pain he was, we’ve yet to meet such kind, gentle, faithful, even-tempered dogs.”

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