If the dog had been shot with that there likely would not have been much left of him.
No, that was a hunting rifle, not BMG. The dog was DOA (dead on arrival), and any vet professional could say that resuscitation is useless here. Truly, one of the saddest cases we had seen.
That was supposingly a self-defense action, however, I thing the shooter overestimated the thread.
We found out some details, like what gun was it and how that happened just later, I guess some investigation took place. Still, I do not know everything about that, and do not know enough about firearms to make my own conclusions. Thank you and others for the usegul links, BTW!
All I can advice to dog owners is keeping your beloved pet leashed and supervised, to avoid many emergency vet visits.
One of the common misconceptions among people who are unfamiliar with firearms is that larger calibers are bad. If you are hunting believe it or not what you want to do is kill the animal dead with one shot. I have found that there are a lot people who own "assault rifles" - which the anti- gun people would have you believe make you into a evil killer - are animal lovers and have never hunted..
I personally have nothing against hunting. We eat meat, right? That means, an animal must be killed. I think that consuming meat from supermarkets while calling hunters "unhumane" is a hipocricy (hope I spelled it right). Just like taking ibuprofen for a headaches and protesting against animal research. After all, animals in many commercial farms experience more suffering than those shot by hunters. I however feel, as a veterinary professional, that every effort must be made to minimize suffering of animals used for food or research.
This is because these people choose these types of guns to DEFEND life - not to take it.
A great point, totally agree!