Lucky the dog survives abandonment in the desert and a bullet to the head

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - If he could talk, Lucky the Coonhound would have quite the story to tell.

"It's so unbelievable that a dog that has gone through so much has this extremely uplifting personality," said Michael Moorefield of the Arizona Animal Welfare League.

Lucky is up for adoption at AAWL in Phoenix. It was just a couple of weeks ago that Lucky was in a much different place.

"They had a dog brought to them from a Border Patrol agent who found Lucky abandoned in the desert, down in a very remote part of Arizona with kind of a big mark on his forehead. They couldn't figure it out," Moorefield said.

That border patrol agent brought Lucky to a shelter in Bisbee, Arizona. A traveling vet took his X-ray and discovered the mark on the pup's forehead was actually a bullet.

"It was a big 9mm and he had been shot between the eyes and that was the mark and it embedded itself in his jaw," Moorefield said.

Moorefield was part of the AAWL crew that brought Lucky back to town for further treatment. The bullet, says Moorefield, traveled down and became embedded in Lucky's jaw.

"You can feel the indentation between his eyes and it's so unbelievable that it doesn't affect him," Moorefield said.

No one knows what really happened, how the pup was shot or how he ended up in the desert except Lucky. But it's pretty clear he's moved past the hurt to become the loving, playful pup he is today.

Lucky was actually adopted out from the AAWL shelter twice. He's also described as a bit of an escape artist so his next home might have to have some pretty good fencing.

If you are interested in making Lucky a part of your family, he's at the AAWL's main shelter.