Georgia deputies investigate after dog found shot in the face

WALTON COUNTY, GA -- The search is on for the person who shot a dog in the face in Georgia. The Walton County sheriff says he's taking the case very seriously after a dog was found with a bullet in his head.

Toby is a lab mix that couldn't be sweeter, according to his caregivers. Despite his injuries, Toby is still wagging his tail.

"He's done nothing but wag his tail, he hasn't tried to bite," says Dr. Asha Wise with Monroe Animal Care Hospital. "Even when we're obviously hurting him, touching his wound, he's a really nice dog."

Two deputies found Toby with a shot to the face while out on a scene in Good Hope on Sunday.

An x-ray of the dog's head shows where the bullet was lodged.

The officers then called another officer, whose wife works with an animal rescue group. They eventually brought him to the Monroe Animal Care Hospital, where he had surgery Tuesday. He will likely need several more, with months of rehab costing possibly thousands of dollars.

"He had a big hole in his nose and he was bleeding from both of his nostrils," Dr. Wise says.

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Toby is also very skinny from malnutrition.

A woman in the neighborhood told police Toby was a stray she took in. She gave him up to the rescue group.

Now, the Sheriff says they're looking for the person who did this to the gentle animal.

"Our district attorney, our prosecutor, she is a huge animal lover," says Sheriff Joe Chapman. "And I would hate for her prosecuting me for endangering an animal."

"I don't know how anybody could shoot a really sweet dog in the face," Wise says.