CANNONSBURG, Mich. — A West Michigan family is looking for answers Wednesday night. One of their dogs was found with a gunshot wound after she went missing near Cannonsburg Ski Area, and their other dog is still lost.
Daisy and Maggie got out of their fence from their Cannon Township home at the end of March, and only Maggie has made it home since.
"We found Maggie within three or four hours," Frank Tuka, their owner, says.
In that short amount of time she was missing, she was shot in the leg. Tuka thinks it was a pellet gun, and Maggie is now recovering.
"She's feeling good. You know, she was definitely scared for a while," he says.
Tuka says he can tell Maggie misses her sister Daisy, who they have yet to find.
"They were born together in the litter and they haven't been separated since, so I'm sure it's very, very hard on her to lose her sister," he says.
The family worries that Daisy is also hurt somewhere out there. After what happened to Maggie, Tuka hopes people can be more considerate if they see a loose dog in their yard.
"If you really don't want a dog on your property, you can easily get them taken away without going through violent means, and you know, obviously incurring some heartache from the family," he says.
"Unfortunately, it's probably more common than what people may think," Lana Carson, Pound Buddies Animal Shelter Director, says.
She says dogs come to them with gunshot wounds a few times a month. She says it's important for owners to secure their dogs to ensure their safety and the safety of others.
"It's a very common statement, 'I will shoot this dog if I see it on my property again,'" Carson says. "People are protecting their pets, their property. Sometimes they feel threatened themselves as well, so it's a protection that they are exercising."
The family started a Facebook page in their search for Daisy. She and her sister are Australian Shepherd-Poodle mixes, and the dogs are almost a year old.
Daisy was last seen on March 28 on Sunfish Lake Avenue Northeast and Kreuter Road. She has white, grey and black fur with pink coloring on her nose. Daisy has all her shots and is microchipped, but is missing her collar.
The family asks that if anyone spots Daisy to approach her gently to not scare her away, as they think she's scared after what happened to Maggie. They also ask people to send them photos and the location if they see Daisy.