Dog Recovering After Being Shot at Holcomb Farm

Harper, a Labrador Shepherd mix, is recovering from serious injuries after suffering a gunshot wound while hiking in Granby with her owners last week. 

Luckily for the 2-year-old dog, there will be a happy ending as she is expected to make a full recovery. 

Harper was shot on Dec. 8 on the trails off the west side of  shortly after she became separated from her owners Kara Lessard Damseaux and her husband Tom sometime just before dusk, Granby Animal Control Officer Jennifer Abalan said.

About 20 minutes later, the couple found Harper lying on her side “motionless and [with her eyes] glazed over” along a main trail, according to a press release.

“It was a very scary moment. I knew something was terribly wrong,” Kara Lessard Damseaux said.

The Damseauxs rushed Harper to the , where the dog was stabilized. The following day, Harper was taken to the Connecticut Veterinary Center in West Hartford, where she underwent three hours of surgery to remove part of one of her lungs and received treatment for a blood clot in her liver and had two broken ribs repaired.

Metal fragments from a bullet were also removed from the dog, according to police. There is some confusion as to what type of gun discharged the bullet, however. The prepared statement says that the bullet was fired from a shotgun, though Abalan said that the vet was “99 percent sure” that a .38 caliber or 9-millimeter pistol was used because of the small entry and large exit wounds.

Where the gunshot came from remains a mystery. Neither of the Damseauxs heard a gunshot, Lessard Damseaux said. Deer hunting season with the use of firearms in Connecticut runs from mid-November to late December, though the timing of where people can hunt and with what type of gun is staggered, according to the state's Department of Energy & Environmental Protection website.

An investigation into the shooting is ongoing, according to Abalan.

“We’re trying to locate the shooter,” she said.

Lessard Damseaux said that she believes the bullet came from a hunter, though she was not sure. Holcomb Farm Executive Director Jill Ford refused to speculate as to who the shooter is.

“It’s hard to say,” Ford said in a telephone interview. “We could think the worst or we could think the best.”

Regardless, Ford said she would use the incident as an opportunity to review some basic principles while hiking at Holcomb Farms.

“The land here is for passive recreation. Both people and animals are welcome,” Ford said.  She said people should take personal precautions by wearing bright colors and leashing their dogs, however.

“Dogs should be on a leash,” Ford said. “That may have been a contributing factor [to Harper being shot].”

It is also recommended to put a bell on a dog’s collar or on a person’s shoe so others can hear hikers and their pets in the area.

Hunting is prohibited on the property.

“This is a very isolated incident. To my knowledge it’s never happened before,” Ford said. “This is a safe place … Holcomb Farm is definitely an asset to the town of Granby and the Farmington Valley community and is for people to enjoy the land for passive recreation.”

That might not be enough for Lessard Damseaux, who said that she plans on hiking in , at least until hunting season ends.

“We’ve kind of calmed down, but we were freaked out because we love hiking and we go out every day,” Lessard Damseaux said. “I thought we were safe in there. I love it in there; it’s quiet in there.”

For now, Harper, who was adopted from a shelter, is on the road to recovery, though she is a little wary of her surroundings, Lessard Damseaux said.

“She’s getting better,” Lessard Damseaux said. “For the first time today, she walked up the street. She’s quiet; she’s timid … we’ve overcome a lot of stuff and now we are back to square one in some ways. It requires some patience.”

Harper’s medical bills total about $6,000, Lessard Damseaux said. The Damseauxs, who just got married, have set up a blog at http://harpermessage.blogspot.com to give updates on the dog’s status and also provide information on how to donate funds to help defray the expenses of Harper’s care.

“The last thing we needed was a $6,000 bill,” Kara Lessard Damseaux said. “The only person I’m angry at is the idiot who did it.”

Anyone who has information on the shooting should contact Abalan at the 860-844-5335.