LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Police in southern Indiana are warning pet owners after a dog was shot in the front yard of a home days before someone left antifreeze in several outside water bowls on the same street. 

The first incident happened just before 7 p.m. at a home on S. Fifth Street on Feb. 18, according to a post on the Utica Police Department's Facebook page that includes surveillance footage of the shooting. The dog was taken to an animal hospital for treatment.

Cpl. Hunter Morrow said when the family "ran outside they seen the blood on the ground. They had rushed the dog to a nearby hospital and had multiple X-rays and the X-rays did reveal what looked like a .22 long rifle bullet in his neck."

A picture of an X-ray image shows the bullet apparently lodged near the vertebrate in the dog's neck area. Morrow said the dog is expected to survive, but has a long road to recovery.

Two days later, on Feb. 20, Utica police posted another notice on Facebook urging residents to keep "all animals contained and within eyesight when outside" after "officers were notified that multiple dog bowls were filled with antifreeze in the areas of 5th Street."

That's not far from where the dog was shot two days earlier, and police said the incidents are related. A day before police posted the second warning, they received a call that antifreeze had been put in a different dog's bowl at the same property. That dog is not doing well, and may have to be put down.

Veterinarian Dr. Amanda Brooks said antifreeze can cause crystals in the kidneys, stomach ulcers and is often fatal. She said the symptoms come in three stages.

"The first stage is kind of a drunken, ataxic stage," Brooks said. "So the animal will act like they're drunk, like they're high. They'll stumble around -- they just won't seem with it. That is the first stage."

Police in southern Indiana are warning pet owners after a dog was shot in the front yard of a home days before someone left antifreeze in several outside water bowls on the same street.

In the next stage Brooks said the animal's body begins to metabolize the ethylene glycol contained in the antifreeze. 

"It goes to the kidneys, causes crystals in the kidneys, it causes GI ulceration," Brooks said, as well as severe dehydration that can affect cells in the heart. 

Morrow said the incidents have the close-knit town on high alert. 

Morrow said "everybody knows everybody here very well. A lot of them are family, we're all first-name basis. When it happens to someone, everybody kind of reacts."

The town called for a meeting Wednesday night about the cruelty cases. Freeda, the dog who was shot, was there as well.

"I don't want it to happen to any other dog," Freeda's owner, Nathaniel Badgett, said.

Badgett clutches his beloved service dog a little bit tighter now.

"When she's outside, she doesn't leave my side," Badgett said.

She was shot only a few minutes after being in the backyard Sunday night. Badgett said he got Freeda last summer to help him with his PTSD. He served in the Marine Corps for years.

Police told the crowd gathered for the emergency meeting that they have identified two people of interest: an adult who was spotted in the area during both incidents and a 17-year-old who police said has been convicted for shooting an animal before. Neither are being identified until, or unless, charges are filed.

The dog that was poisoned is still recovering. Freeda came home the same night she was shot. Badgett said the bullet is still lodged in her neck, and she is at risk for paralysis.

"The way she's acting, you wouldn't believe that she's been shot by somebody," Badgett said.

Residents are urged to keep a close eye on pets, and anyone who notices suspicious activity should immediately report it to the Utica Police Department by calling 812-288-4357. 

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