Queens pup cheats death after being shot by stray bullet in its own home: ‘A very good dog’
A Queens pup cheated death after being shot in the rump by a stray bullet while lounging in the safety of her home — and cops think the bullet was fired by a teen playing around with handguns next door.
Arya, a 6-year-old Pomeranian and Husky mix — a “Pomsky” — was struck in hind the leg around 1 a.m. Sunday morning after a wayward shot crashed through her family’s living room window in Howard Beach.
The bullet pierced through Arya’s groin and nicked her colon, according to police, a near miss that has left her still unable to walk after surgery Monday.
“She’s a very good dog —she doesn’t bark. Even when she was shot she was quiet,” Arya’s owner, 67-year-old Al Murena, told The Post.
The Murenas were home Sunday when they heard a crash in their living room, but when they went to investigate could find no damage — only Arya whimpering quietly on the couch.
“When I started wiping her leg all the blood was coming out but we didn’t know she got shot,” Murena said, explaining they were baffled when they took her the vet and were asked if the wound was from a bullet.
“We don’t even own a gun. We thought she got cut,” he said.
The next morning his wife a found bullet hole in a window when she opened the shades, and the family called the police.
Investigators spotted two bullet holes in the wall of the home behind the Murenas’, and interviewed a resident of the house who said her son had recently fled the home, according to cops.
She had allegedly found a pair of handguns in the house after her son took off, and in a panic hid them in her kitchen freezer, police said.
Her son, 18-year-old Joshua Marte, was later apprehended.
“He made a spontaneous utterance, ‘I didn’t mean to hurt anybody,'” NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said in a briefing with reporters.
Some locals said the incident was a “scary” reminder that there’s no escaping violence.
“It is insane that a bullet might come through your wall,” Charyla Williams, 24, from nearby City Line told The Post Wednesday.
“I’ve been in this area for about a year-and-a-half and gun crime has been active at night,” Williams said. “But I feel increased police presence has been making things better, there’s been noticeable improvement.”
Arya is expected to survive, but her road to recovery is just beginning.
“She’s doing alright. She’s a little mushy. She’s doing OK,” Murena said, adding the pooch was still in the hospital and her veterinarians said she wasn’t able to eat or walk yet.
“I’m a little sad because it’s just me and her home during the day. We’re close,” Murena said.
While the Murenas are just thankful Arya is alive, neighbors and local dog owners alike were outraged by what happened.
“I’d be livid. Forget about it. My dog is my life. If someone shot her, I would lose my s–t,” local dog owner Anita told The Post as she was out walking her dog Zoey.
“Why does a teenager even have a gun in the first place?” she said, “This block has a lot of kids. It could have been worse. God forbid it hit my dog, it could have hit a kid. It’s crazy. It’s scary.”
Another neighbor, who asked not to be named, said the situation was a “foolish accident.”
“It’s a tragedy. Luckily the bullet didn’t hit people sleeping in the bedroom,” he said. “If you have a gun, you should keep it locked up.”
“You never load a gun unless you mean to use it. It was a kid playing around. Stupid.”
