A Dog Accidentally Shot and Killed His Owner

A hunting trip turned into tragedy in Kansas, U.S.A. after a dog accidentally shot and killed his owner on January 21, 2023. 

Joseph Austin Smith, 30, was sitting in the driver's seat of his truck when his dog who was sitting in the backseat stepped a rifle, triggering it to discharge. The bullet hit Smith in the back and killed him. 

“The back seat contained hunting gear and a rifle... A canine belonging to the owner of the pickup stepped on the rifle causing the weapon to discharge. The fired round struck the passenger who died of his injuries on scene,” a statement from the Summer Country Sherriff's Office reads. 

Dogs accidentally shooting their owners is not as rare as you might think.

In 2018, a similar incident involving a pitbull labrador happened when the dog accidentally shot its owner while they were playing inside the house.

Another hunting trip in 2018 also ended in tragedy when a rottweiler in New Mexico caught his paw in the gun's trigger, hitting his owner, who survived. That incident also happened  inside a truck. 

According to the Washington Post, most reports of dogs accidentally shooting their owners happen in the U.S. but there were also cases outside the country. 

In November 2022 in Turkey, a man was shot dead by a dog during a hunting trip when the dog stepped on the trigger of a shotgun.