Medycyna Wet. 63 (11), 1331-1332, 2007
Houszka M., Kapuśniak V., Nowak M.
Shot wounds from pneumatic arms
Gunshot wounds in animals can be the consequence of fire arms as well as pneumatic arms. Apart from tissue injury, the fire arm bullet, especially the big gauge one, cause traumatic shock. The kinetic energy of the pneumatic fire pellet is obviously too low to cause traumatic shock. However, it could be sufficient for a deep penetration of soft tissues and in the case of damage to important life organs, can be the cause of an animal’s death. This is exemplified by the case of a 7-month-old dog, 25 kg weight, shot with a pneumatic fire pellet gauge 4.5 mm, weighing only 0.4 g. The pellet punctured the densely hair-covered skin and the thoracic wall between the 10th and 11th rib, 1.5 cm below the vertebral column, passing through caudal lobes of the lungs and the aortic wall. This resulted in massive peripleural haemorrhage to tissues surrounding the aorta, with consequent blood permeation in the pleural cavities. Death was the effect of hypovolemic shock. The described case makes us aware of the real danger of modern pneumatic arms for dogs and cats.
Keywords: shot wounds, pneumatic arms, dog