Shot puppy finds care at Raleigh-area rescue, faces recovery

A 7-month-old puppy shot twice in eastern North Carolina is now recovering with a Raleigh-area rescue after veterinarians said bullet fragments lodged in her spine and left her permanently unable to use her back legs.

Anya was taken in by Perfectly Imperfect Pups after the Duplin County shelter called last week about a dog that had been shot. Rescue founder Nicole Kincaid said the puppy was hit by the previous owner’s neighbors or someone else in the neighborhood, then left to cope with a life that changed in an instant.

X-rays showed the damage was severe. Veterinarians believe Anya will not regain use of her back legs, leaving the young dog dependent on people for movement, care and the long recovery ahead. The case has turned a painful cruelty complaint into a visible test of how far Wake-area rescues are willing to stretch when medically fragile animals arrive from outside the county.

Perfectly Imperfect Pups says it focuses on urgent dogs, including special-needs and medical cases, and operates entirely through volunteer foster homes rather than a brick-and-mortar shelter. That model gives animals like Anya a place to heal, but it also pushes the burden onto foster families, veterinary partners and the rescue’s limited fundraising. Every injured dog means more staff time, more medical coordination and more money spent on treatment, transport and daily care.

Kincaid previously said she started the rescue after about seven years of fostering and rescuing special-needs dogs. Her work reflects a broader Triangle network that often absorbs difficult cases from across North Carolina, including dogs that need specialized care before they can be placed in adoptive homes.

The legal stakes are serious as well. Under North Carolina General Statute 14-360, maliciously torturing, maiming, cruelly beating, disfiguring, poisoning or killing an animal is a Class H felony. That makes Anya’s case more than a heartbreaking rescue story. It is also a question of who shot her, whether investigators identify that person and whether the state’s cruelty laws will be used to hold someone accountable.

For Wake County, the case is a reminder that rescue groups in Raleigh and the Triangle are often the safety net when severe animal cruelty surfaces elsewhere in the state. Anya is alive because that network existed, but her recovery will demand the kind of sustained care that only specialized foster rescue can provide.