On February 25th, Alaska State Troopers received a call around 4:00 p.m., saying that a motorist had found a dog who seemed to be injured near milepost 10 Funny River Road.
The caller, Jesse Hughes, says that when she discovered the husky, his mouth was taped shut and was his lower body was covered in blood.
Hughes named the dog Ace and transported him to the Kenai Veterinary Hospital. Upon inspection, veterinarians discovered a bullet had fractured the dog’s hip.
According to Kenai Peninsula Animal Lovers Rescue Vice President Kelly Griebel, KPAL sent Ace’s story to other animal rescues to ask for help.
“The foster called in and had them open an account in Ace was named to cover a surgery, which was about $3,000. So within two hours, the community had totally called in and paid for that. Which was pretty amazing. Ace got through surgery was doing good,” said Griebel.
In an attempt to find the owner, Griebel created a Facebook post, trying to find his family.
Sam Allen Renney, age 63 of Soldotna, said that the husky was his, and was going to retrieve him.
Renney said that Ace had a history of aggressive behavior, and bit him. This resulted in Renney attempting to put the dog down by shooting him. After failing to put down the dog, the dog escaped, which lead to Hughes finding Ace in the first place.
Despite KPAL’s concerns, Alaska State Troopers said that they could not prevent Renney from taking back his own dog, and was free to take back the dog.
In fear for Ace’s life, Griebel reached out to AST the next day to further voice her concerns.
“So I reached out to the trooper and he actually said we’ve got a warrant in our hands. I am going to pick up this other trooper and we’re gonna go out there to get aces if he is still alive. When they got out there, Ace was there,” said Griebel.
Troopers were able to successfully rescue Ace.
Due to the circumstances and manner of the shooting, Renney was charged with Cruelty to Animals.
And as for Ace, he was brought back to the vet with no further injuries, and was released to Hughes to recover from his recent surgery.
Hughes has decided after Ace fully recovers, she will adopt him.