Puppy Found Shot and Hidden Under Tarp in Oklahoma Culvert Takes First Steps to Healing

The 911 callers only knew something alive was trapped under a tarp and scrap metal at the bottom of a flooded drainage ditch. When Oklahoma City Animal Welfare officers climbed down into the murky water near I-240 and Pennsylvania Avenue, they found a terrified, flea-covered puppy clinging to life.

The young female dog, estimated to be under a year old and believed to be a Setter and Border Collie mix, had endured violence that shocked even veteran responders. Named Adaline—or Addie for short—she had been discarded in the culvert after suffering multiple gunshot wounds and extensive blunt force trauma across her torso. Rescuers rushed her straight to the intensive care unit at Neel Veterinary Hospital, with local rescue organization Angel Fund OKC stepping in immediately to underwrite her urgent critical care.

Surviving the critical 48 hours in intensive care

Emergency diagnostics quickly revealed the full severity of Addie's injuries. Beyond severe bruising throughout her lungs and deep soft-tissue swelling from blunt impacts, X-rays uncovered five to six bullet fragments lodged directly in her head. Miraculously, veterinary clinicians determined the shrapnel had not pierced her brain tissue, though its dangerous proximity to her sinus cavities and neurological pathways left her vulnerable to intracranial swelling and severe infections.

“When we got her, it was just you could just tell it was a long period of abuse that she suffered that day,” Misty Wilson, a registered veterinary technician and founder of Angel Fund OKC, told local news station KFOR. As reported by iHeartDogs, the veterinary team placed Addie on continuous IV fluids, systemic antibiotics, and round-the-clock monitoring during the vital first 48-hour window. For severe ballistic and concussive trauma, the body can sometimes safely encapsulate metal fragments with fibrous scar tissue, provided secondary bacterial infections and neurological deficits are kept at bay.

The case hit home with painful resonance for Wilson, coming just weeks after the rescue took in Mango, another Mixed Breed survivor who was shot in the head. “The first one was hard, but now it’s like the second one in a month is just I don’t understand it,” Wilson noted.

Learning that gentle hands mean safety

While medical teams stabilized her physical wounds, Addie's deepest trauma lingered in her posture. Having survived cruelty before her first birthday, she arrived profoundly head-shy—shrinking away from sudden motion, avoiding direct eye contact, and keeping her chin tucked tightly to the ground.

Very timid, very sweet, very head shy, not trusting at all. She walks with her head down.

Yet beneath the terror, Addie never snapped or growled; she remained deeply gentle, tentatively leaning into quiet touches once she realized the hands reaching toward her brought relief rather than harm. For traumatized dogs, the path back to security requires structured patience—avoiding overhead reaching, keeping voices low, and allowing the animal to initiate contact at their own pace so their nervous system can slowly disarm fight-or-flight instincts.

In the days following her emergency admission, Addie reached encouraging milestones: standing on her own, taking soft food, and responding warmly to familiar caretakers. A committed foster home is already prepared to welcome her once she is discharged from the hospital, providing the peaceful heartwarming sanctuary she needs to truly discover what being a puppy feels like.

Authorities with Oklahoma City Animal Welfare continue to investigate the incident and urge anyone with information about who abandoned Addie near Casey’s off I-240 to come forward.