[WillowTheWhisp]

I'm just wondering if it could have happened somethng like this:

Dog gets out of house alone.
Dog returns to house wounded.
Dog's owner assumes that some young hooligan has been taking pot shots at their dog and phones police.
Farmer contacts dog owner to explain what has happened.
Ooops too late, says owner, we already phoned the police.
Owner then tries to tell police who shot dog and why.
Police instead of cancelling hunt for terrorist gunman now descend on farm.

Just a thought.