Dog shot in chest loses leg, has puppies

LEBANON, Ore. -- When the Yanik's dog Katie came to the door on April 4, they knew immediately that something was very wrong.

"As I got closer to her, I saw that her whole chest was just blown open," Grant Yanik said.

Grant and Christine Yanik rushed Katie to the animal hospital, where bullet fragments were found inside the dog.

"She was shot at pretty close range," Grant said. "I would say probably within 20 feet, it was a very steep angle. So, you know, somebody was pointing down at her when they shot her."

Katie survived the night, and kept strong even after her leg was amputated in the coming days.

But the Yaniks were scared for the 12 puppies the pregnant Fox Red Labrador was carrying and the stress the unborn pups had already endured.

Katie's contractions started at the end of April. When a few days passed with no puppies, the Yaniks and Katie went back to the vet.

"No heart sounds out of any of the puppies, so that was terrible to hear," Grant said.

The 5 1/2-year-old dog underwent an emergency C-section.

"Doctor Cole was just pulling out puppies and just handing them to people...vigorously rubbing to  try to get them to come back," Grant said. "A couple of them, it took ...a good two, three minutes to get them to come around and start moving and breathing...There wasn't a dry eye back there."

Ten of the 12 pups survived the next few days, and Katie is a doting mother. The Yaniks said they plan to sell the puppies.

"They're such little miracles, and they've been through so much," Christine Yanik said.

"To have [Katie] come out as well as she is and have all of her puppies survive is, in our opinion, a miracle," said Grant.

And Katie is adapting to life with three legs.

"She can't run as fast, can't navigate around things as well as she used to," Grant said, "but she doesn't see it as a limitation."