‘Act of horrid cruelty’: Pit bull shot in face awaits surgery at KC-area pet rescue

When rescuers brought the pit bull into Mission’s Unleashed Pet Rescue Thursday, witnesses gasped, cried and shielded sensitive eyes from the sight, Unleashed’s CEO Danielle Reno said.

The dog, now named Gloria, had suffered “an act of horrid cruelty,” Reno wrote on the organization’s Facebook page this weekend.

Gloria had been found injured near Slater, Mo. She had been shot “point-blank” in the side of her face, Reno said.

By Sunday afternoon, the site’s Facebook page had raised more than $5,000 to support Gloria’s care as she waited for surgery that is expected Tuesday.

“This is unthinkably cruel,” Reno wrote. “This is sick s--- and it needs to end.”

The spray of gunshot pellets went through one side of her face to the other, Reno said. She has pellets in her abdomen.

“There’s a gaping hole in the side of her face that you can see her teeth through,” she wrote.

Gloria has been through extreme pain, Reno said, but she is on antibiotics and painkillers as she waits surgery.

“Gloria is in good spirits still,” she wrote. “She’s eating and drinking and giving stinky kisses.”

This story was originally published October 14, 2018 at 6:04 PM.