Puppy was shot with an arrow and gun in Missouri — and survived. ‘He was being hunted’
“They wanted him dead.”
The four words echoed, bone-chilling in their sentence order. Especially because the subject was a defenseless puppy, and the “they” have yet to be caught.
Lucky Charm was nameless when he was brought into Stray Rescue of St. Louis, and the sight presented was a brutal and horrifying one, the shelter said in a March 17 Facebook post. The evidence of a hunt was penetrating from his neck, still intact — and the brownish-tan dog was still lucid.
Warning: Facebook post contains graphic images and video.
“He was being hunted,” the shelter said at the start of its post.
“This one-year-old puppy was shot with a bow and arrow, and the arrow is now brutally lodged in his throat,” the shelter said. “He was transported here to the safe haven of Stray Rescue where we immediately administered pain medication. He’s so kind, so sweet, so gentle. It enrages us to even think about how someone could be so heartless to do something like this to such a sweet soul. How could someone do this?”
Unfortunately, the arrow wasn’t all in terms of the extent of his injuries.
“We got him settled and as comfortable as possible. In the background, you can hear anger in our staff members’ voices,” the shelter said. “Once we performed x-rays, we could clearly see that the arrow is going right through him. It is near his spine and esophagus. As if that wasn’t horrific enough, he also has a bullet lodged in his abdomen.
“Someone was hunting this puppy. They wanted him dead.”
Since the arrow was stuck in his trachea, “Lucky Charm,” as he was named by the shelter workers, would have to be transported to a specialist for a difficult surgery.
“We strapped him to the gurney and tucked him in with blankets and a pillow to show him that not every human being is a monster,” the shelter said. “We sent him with love and so many kisses. Saying goodbye to him was really hard, but it’s the only chance he has, and he deserves our EVERY effort.”
The shelter updated McClatchy News on March 18 and reported that Lucky had survived the surgery and is doing great — and he’s even eating.
“They think we’ll be able to bring him home in the next day or so,” chief communications officer of Stray Rescue Natalie Thomson told McClatchy News in an email.
According to the shelter’s Facebook page, officers are trying to track down the culprit, and if anyone has information, email the shelter at info@strayrescue.com.
Lucky was found in East Prairie, which is about a 165-mile drive southeast from St. Louis.
This story was originally published March 18, 2025 at 3:11 PM with the headline "Puppy was shot with an arrow and gun in Missouri — and survived. ‘He was being hunted’."