Owner said dog shot itself in the face — but that isn’t what happened, Ohio cops say

An Ohio man initially said his dog suffering from a gunshot wound shot itself — but that’s not true, police say.

Lula, a brindle boxer in the small northern Ohio city of Norwalk, was shot in the face this week and eventually had to lose her left eye during an emergency surgery, according to the Huron County Humane Society.

Norwalk police Capt. Jim Fulton told WJW the 31-year-old owner at first explained that his dog was trained to retrieve a gun in her mouth and it fired a shot.

“The officers didn’t believe that,” Fulton told the news outlet.

The man later said he shot the dog accidentally as he unloaded the firearm, WJW reported.

While officers questioned the man, Lula escaped and a search lasted for hours early Monday until she was eventually found with the man’s ex-girlfriend, who previously owned the dog, the Sandusky Register reported. She called the humane society to report Lula was found, the newspaper reported.

On Wednesday, the Huron County Humane Society said Lula was released and “resting comfortably” in a foster home.

“She has done well overnight and is keeping a positive attitude so far during recovery,” Huron County Humane Society posted Wednesday on Facebook.

The dog owner was charged with misdemeanors of cruelty to animals, handling a firearm while intoxicated and discharging a weapon in a municipality, WJW reported.

This story was originally published September 2, 2021 at 10:35 AM with the headline "Owner said dog shot itself in the face — but that isn’t what happened, Ohio cops say."