On Christmas Eve morning sheriffs deputies were called to a home in Wheaton, Wisconsin on a report of report of a dog that had been shot .
"Duke" Wildenberg, said he had his dog "Smoke" lying on the porch bleeding the night before. The 5-year-old black German Shepherd Dog was unable to stand. Wildenberg rushed the dog to his vet in Chippewa Falls. He learned his dog was shot after Dr. Joel Mayberry, of Chippewa Veterinary Clinic, pulled a piece of shrapnel from Smoke’s backside.
Wildenberg said Smoke was severely injured and may not be able to function as before the incident due to muscle damage Wildenberg said he believed the dog was shot sometime prior to 9 p.m. the evening of December 23rd.
A blood trail from the dog led back to an area of a snowmobile trail that runs on and in an area adjacent to Wildenberg‘s home.
The Chippewa County Sheriff's Office and the DNR investigated and found that there had been several people hunting coyotes in the area on the evening in question. The persons responsible were encouraged to contact the Sheriff's Office, which they immediately did. Officials said the hunters have cooperated fully in interviews and accompanied county personnel and the DNR Warden to the scene.
The responsible parties had not been snowmobiling and the incident had no ties to the snowmobile trails that run through the area.
No charges have been filed against the three adults and a juvenile by the Sheriff's Office or the DNR. The dog, Smoke, who was taken back to the vet after infection set in, is now resting at home again.
