Two-year-old dog shot twice in the head and buried up to its neck, but survives

HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. - Investigators are calling it in one of the worst cases of animal abuse in Hillsborough County -- a two-year-old dog shot twice in the head, then buried up to its neck and left to die.

The dog, named Phoebe, survived the ordeal after animal control officers responded to an anonymous tip and found her in the backyard of an abandoned house on October 29.

"We need your help to find out who did this, because this is sick.  This is sick!" Said Pam Perry, Animal Services Investigation Manager for Hillsborough County.

When officers arrived at the scene, all they could see was the dog's head coming out of the ground. All they could hear was faint whimpering.

They carefully dug her out of what could have been her grave and rushed her to an emergency vet, where she stayed for the next week.

"It's a miracle that this dog is even alive today," Perry said.

Somehow the two bullets that went in and out of Phoebe's head missed all major organs.

She has since gained some much needed weight.

While her wounds heal, investigators turn to the public to help find whoever did this.

"If they did this to a dog, they'll do it to another dog, a cat, a child, a person, a friend.  They need to be stopped," she said.

The two-year-old pit bull mix will be put up for adoption when she fully recovers.