OAKLAND, Calif.-
A 7-year-old German shepherd named Buffy may lose a leg after jumping into action to protect her owner from a mugger. The dog was shot in her left front limb by an armed man who approached Oakland resident Will Bartley, 44, as he pulled into his driveway after work Wednesday night.
Buffy ran out to greet him and was there when the gunman demanded Bartley’s wallet, he said.
As Bartley complied, the German shepherd lunged at the mugger, who fired off two shots. Bartley, who was uninjured, does not know if Buffy got her teeth into the robber before he fled.
“My dog saw what was happening and bolted forward … she sensed it somehow,” Bartley said.
Her mission accomplished, Buffy limped across the street and laid down in a big puddle of blood, Bartley said. Doctors at the animal hospital where she was taken said there is a 50/50 chance they may have to amputate the dog’s leg.
“I’m just happy she’s OK,” Bartley said. “I really didn’t think she was going to make it. I’m just thankful that she did, and I’m going to spend the rest of my life thanking her.”
Buffy’s family, which has had the German shepherd since puppyhood, described her as naturally protective.
“She won’t let children fight each other, she won’t let me get too close to my husband if we’re play-fighting. She’s against violence, period,” said Bartley’s wife, Lagree Bartley.
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Information from: The Oakland Tribune, ;
and the San Francisco Chronicle,
