TAMPA, Fla. — A large bullet was found and removed during a routine examination from a rescued dog brought into a Florida animal shelter.
Sarge, a 5-year-old Labrador retriever mix, was brought to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay by a rescue group, the animal shelter said on social media.
Veterinarians were shocked at what they found: a large caliber bullet.
“He was going in for a routine neuter, and the doctors noticed a soft mass, and we expected it to be a fatty, benign abscess of some sort,” shelter spokesperson Miranda Cantrell told WTVT. “So we said it would be no issue, that we could remove it during his neuter.”
“We have seen buckshot, pellets, BBs, those type of things in animals,” Cantrell said. “But a bullet of this caliber in a dog, I’ve been here two years and I have never seen this.”
On Sunday, Sarge was adopted.
“Sarge is a true ‘good boy,’ who is very intelligent and loyal,” the shelter said. “We can’t imagine who would do this to him. We do not know what this poor pup has been through, but we are so glad that we could help him.”