AUSTIN — Matthew Eisele likes to think of his two dogs as members of his family.
So the Austin man was more than a little shaken a week ago today when he and his wife returned from a trip to the store to find their beloved 4-year-old dog, Rayne, limping outside and bleeding heavily.
A quick check of the dog's wound revealed the flat coat retriever-chow mix had been shot with a broadhead arrow. The shooter was gone.
"I was just praying that she was going to be OK, that she was going to live," Eisele said. "And then the anger starts to set in. You think 'What kind of a person is going to do that? What kind of person is going to shoot someone's dog?'"
Rayne was rushed to an emergency vet, where she underwent surgery to remove the arrow and patch her wounded fur. The projectile shattered the front right leg but didn't pierce the chest, causing nerve damage that might require amputation but sparing Rayne's life.
Eisele is thankful his dog survived. But he's disturbed that someone would take aim in what he believes was an intentional attempt to kill. And he's concerned it's not an isolated incident: His other dog, Pepper, came home with a gash to the base of his paw several weeks ago and Eisele previously found in his yard a hunting arrow similar to the one that hit Rayne.
He reported the shooting to the Lonoke County Sheriff's Department and has been asking around to neighboring residences on Campground Road in Austin, but so far no one has had any insight into who might be responsible.
Eisele - a staff sergeant in the Air National Guard - said Rayne is one of several dogs who regularly roam freely in the rural neighborhood and that she has a gentle, loving demeanor. No one had complained to Eisele about Rayne or Pepper, a 5-year-old akita-black lab mix.
"I was just in complete disbelief, complete shock," said Eisele's wife, Brittany. "We've had this dog since she was a baby ... I can't imagine somebody shooting a dog. We're just looking for the person to come forward."
The road to recovery likely won't be easy for Rayne. She has to have a cast over her shattered leg for at least four weeks. It can't get wet and she can't put weight on it, so the routine activity of going outside for a walk requires wrapping it in plastic and carrying the 55-pound Rayne much of the way.
Eisele, though, isn't complaining about the extra work.
"I mean she's our baby," he said with a smile, stroking Rayne's head as she slept across his lap. "She's like our third kid. We've got our daughter Savannah here and we've got Pepper and we've got Rayne."