Dog Survives Being Buried Alive And 40 Pellet Gun Shots

The tiny island nation of Malta is rallying behind a stray dog that defied the odds and miraculously survived a horrible act of animal cruelty at the hands of an unknown assailant. Officers investigating an unrelated case near the city of Birzebbuga last week heard faint whispers from under a plank with a tree stump on top of it. After removing the plank, they made the gruesome discovery: a dog buried alive in dirt up to its face, its snout and limbs tied up, and multiple bullet wounds in its head, The Times of Malta reported. The dog, a female mixed-breed that rescuers named "Star," was dug out and taken for emergency surgery at the Ta' Qali hospital. Doctors were able to save her life, despite removing more than 40 gun pellets from her skull. The case caused an uproar in Malta and led to calls for the country to revise its animal cruelty laws. Currently, anyone convicted of animal abuse faces a maximum one-year jail sentence....