A man is asking for help and police are investigating after his pit bull was shot in Miami Gardens. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons reports
A South Florida dog owner wants answers after he says someone shot his dog.
Fitzgerald Lawrence has had his pit bull mix, Smoke, for about three years now. He says Smoke is like his son. They even share the same birthday.
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WATCH HERE“I've had him since six months, he's really all I got,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence says he left his apartment in Miami Gardens Monday, and Smoke somehow got loose and went outside. When he came back home, he noticed blood on his dog's face.
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“I'm thinking maybe he got into a fight with another dog, an altercation with a bird, ducks, chickens, but it wasn't that,” Lawrence said.
Lawrence checked his dog and found a puncture wound in his side and blood was everywhere. He rushed Smoke to the vet and said doctors told him someone shot his dog.
“Honestly, I'm not really one to cry or ask for help, I haven't been able to sleep in a couple days,” Lawrence said. “I doubt he attacked anyone, so this feels a bit malicious,s and we're really just trying to find out who did this.”
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Doctors performed emergency surgery. Dr. Jon Rappaport with Advanced Veterinary Care Center in Davie says the bullet went in and out. They also found a few bullet fragments inside Smoke.
“We're doing everything we can to support this dog who has unfortunately been through a brutal time,” Rappaport said. “He's a strong dog, he's an ox. He's been through a lot and hung in there so far, we hope he can continue to do so.”
Lawrence says he just wants answers.
“We want to know who shot him and see if we can have some type of discussion with them to see what happened,” Lawrence said.
Miami Gardens Police say they're looking into this case. Detectives are trying to get surveillance video from the complex.
A GoFundMe was established to help with Smoke's vet bills.
