December 12, 2011
By Alyssa Newcomb, ABCNews.go.com
A 78 -year-old Florida man is in critical condition after being
shot by his dog while hunting, marking the second time a canine has
shot its master in the past month.
Billy E. Brown was shot in the thigh Saturday by his bulldog Eli
while Brown and his deer hunting buddy of 25 years were traveling to
reach their hunting posts.
“[Brown's] friend was riding next to him in the front seat, with
the dog and the gun in between them,” Gary Morse, spokesperson for
the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, told
ABCNews.com
While traveling down a bumpy road, an “overly excited” Eli
knocked the gun, shooting his master in the thigh, Morse said.
Brown, who is the general manager of Withlacoochee River
Electric, an energy co-op, was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in
Tampa, Fla., where he underwent surgery and remained in critical
condition in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
It’s not the first time a hunter has became the hunted.
Earlier this month, a 46-year-old unidentified Utah man was shot
in the buttocks by his dog while on a duck hunting trip. The victim
was setting decoys in the water at the time of the shooting.
“The dog got excited, was jumping around inside the boat and then
it jumped on the gun. It went off, shooting the [decoy setter] in
the buttocks,” Box Elder County Sheriff’s Chief Deputy Kevin Potter
told the Salt Lake Tribune.
Twenty-seven rounds of birdshot were removed from the man’s
behind after the accident.
“Loaded guns in vehicles are a recipe for problems,” Morse said.
“In our hunter safety course we talk about this at great length.”
Brown’s incident is still under investigation, which is protocol,
according to Morse.
