Michigan family's dog shot in the neck

DETROIT – There's concern tonight in one metro Detroit community over who shot a dog with a 22-guage gun.

Sage the dog survived the early September shooting in Clay Township, but her life has been forever changed. She had to have a tracheotomy. She can't bark, swim and will have to wear a bandage for the rest of her life.

Spencyr Wickman said she had no idea what happened when 2-year-old Sage came home with blood coming from her throat.

"I thought she had swallowed a stick and it went through or something," Wickman said.

At the vet, Wickman said at first they thought Sage might have been hit by a BB gun. But an x-ray revealed the truth.

"She had fragments in her throat from the bullet," Wickman said. "When it went through it took the right side of her larynx off and went through her trachea."

She's a pit bull/lab mix, which is why her owner thinks she may have been targeted. Wickman said Sage is not vicious.

Sage had surgery and is recovering well. But there's another concern – the dog was shot in a residential area, where kids walk home from school.

"Of course we are very concerned about a weapon being shot off, it's near a school," said Clay Township Police Chief Don Drake. "We don't want a stray bullet hitting a child."

Drake said there's no suspects in the case, yet.

"We're at a loss right now for our investigation unless someone comes forward and indicates to us that they shot the dog in self defense or defense of their child or whatever," he said. "No one is owning up to it at this time."

A Facebook page has been set up for information on Sage's case: Justice for SageÂ