An emotional support dog who was shot twice while riding on a freeway in Oakland, California Friday, has passed away after animal lovers gathered to raise money for her recovery.
Layla was traveling home to her master Nenita ‘Nakaya’ Kiser in Walnut Creek Sunday when she was hit by two bullets, at least one in the shoulder, and her dog-sitter believes they were meant for him.
‘She gave her life for me,’ David Freitag, 66, told Mercury News after the four-year-old’s passing Sunday.
Emotional support dog Layla was shot twice while riding on a freeway in Oakland, California Friday and passed away Sunday after being euthanized
He added to ABC7: ‘Some bullet fractured in my neck here, in the back of the neck, in the front of the neck I’d be dead.
‘Standing next to me with the bullets entering from the side, she probably took them before they got to me.’
Law enforcement have found no motive for the slaying of the brown-and-white Shepherd-Pharoah Hound mix and are hunting for the person to who killed the beloved pet.
Freitag believes that if the animal hadn’t been looking through the windshield of his rental vehicle at the time when they were traveling east on the Interstate 980 at 7.30pm, it may have been him that died.
‘Suddenly the windows are shattering and I felt this impact, and Layla just kind of pitched over,’ he explained about the incident.
‘I don’t know why they did this, or who this was, or what they think they were trying to accomplish but they’re twisted people.’
David Freitag, 66, was driving her home to her owner when shots rang out at 7.30pm on the Interstate 980
The dog’s owner Nenita ‘Nakaya’ Kiser suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder
The highway was closed for several hours while law enforcement investigated and Freitag was rushed to hospital with ‘minor to moderate’ injuries while the pooch was urgently sent to a San Leandro veterinary hospital.
Her owner, who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, had adopted the dog two years ago.
‘I have PTSD and she’s my emotional service dog and I can’t be alone,’ she told ABC7.
The furry friend’s carer made the heartbreaking decision to euthanize her Sunday after she became paralyzed, unable to feel in her leg or move her tail.
A GoFundMe page had raised $2,661 of a $40,000 goal for medical costs thanks to 60 people chipping in.
‘Layla’s breathing got more and more labored and miracles were in short supply. The GoFundMe raised $1,100+ in a few hours but the MRI, which needed to happen Sunday morning, was $5,000, Freitag explained about her ‘peaceful’ passing. ‘Then surgery which had less than 50 percent chance. Things just moved too fast.’
On Monday the figure had risen to $3,786.
After Layla died comments on the page asked Freitag to close the crowdfunding operation as people continued to donate thinking she was alive.
The human victim explained that while the goal amount was very high, he quoted it because he had no idea of the costs involved initially.
A GoFundMe page had raised $2,661 of a $40,000 goal for medical costs thanks to 60 people chipping in. On Monday the figure had risen to $3,786
‘I guess I was desperate and hoping for a miracle, he wrote Sunday night. ‘She got worse as the night went on and the vets wanted a decision.
‘And as time went on she was deteriorating before our eyes. I’d just gotten out of the hospital myself-I still have two bullets in me.
‘I don’t see a way to change the target amount. If anyone knows, please tell me. We are NOT in this for the money.’
He now expects the sum to come to around $5000-5500 for vet bills and explained he will close the campaign when they hit that region. Any extra money will be donated to a shelter.
Now California Highway Patrol are on the hunt for the killer of the ‘sweet, wonderful dog’.
‘We’re putting all our efforts into finding those people responsible for this,’ Highway Patrol Officer Herman Baza said.
Anyone with information about the shooting can contact the CHP at 800-TELL-CHP (835-5247).