Maple Grove Family's Dog Eli Dies After Being Shot By Pellet Gun
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- An 11-year-old dog was shot and killed over the weekend in a Maple Grove neighborhood. The family is now looking for answers and they're asking for the community's help.
When Brent Peterson returned home on Saturday evening, he realized Eli the family dog was missing. He wasn't expecting what happened next.
"We went outside, started hollering his name, couldn't find him, and then made our way to the backyard," Peterson said. "We found him lying on the ground right here."
Eli was bleeding badly when they found him.
"I took a bunch of towels and wrapped them around him, and put gauze around him, and put pressure on the wound just so he wouldn't be bleeding out," Peterson said. "We thought he came from the busy street right over here, maybe he got hit by a car."
Peterson rushed Eli to the emergency pet hospital, his mind racing. What doctors found shocked the whole family.
"They came back and said, 'Has your dog ever been shot before?' I said, 'No, not to my knowledge.' And then they said, 'Look at these X-rays,'" Peterson said.
The X-rays showed Eli had been shot with a pellet gun.
Neighbors may have been the last to see the dog. On Saturday night, neighbors were outside and said they saw Eli standing, and then they heard a popping noise. They heard Eli yelp and then he ran down the cul de sac back home.
Doctors tried to stabilize Eli, but they couldn't, and the Peterson family was forced to say goodbye. Their other dog Lucia still waits for Eli to come home.
"Even last night she sat by the door and I know she was thinking, 'Why isn't Eli here?"
And the Peterson family is left hoping for a resolution.
You have to be 18 or older to purchase a pellet gun like the one used in this situation.
Maple Grove police are investigating. If you have any information about what happened to Eli, call the Maple Grove Police.