Dog dodges four bullets from police

Cats have nine lives, but Storm the dog can certainly count himself nearly as lucky.

He survived four shots being fired at him yesterday by a Hamilton police officer while protecting his master's east Hamilton turf after Joe Soares was accidentally shocked and rushed to hospital by a neighbour.

A few hours after the 1:30 p.m. incident at Soares' home at Britannia and Adeline avenues, Storm was wagging his tail and sniffing the hands of visitors.

The shots fired by the officer all appeared to have gone into the ground, although police say that's not where the officer intended them to go.

Soares suffered a dislocated shoulder and burns to his hands and was being transferred to Hamilton General Hospital from the Henderson General Hospital last night.

"He doesn't care," joked Soares' daughter, Laura, about Storm, a 10-year-old mixed German shepherd and Labrador.

"That dog lives through anything. He's as stubborn as his owner."

He might even be a bit of a hero. Soares told his son, Steve, that after he went down when he drilled into an electrical wire on his fence, Storm pulled on his pant leg. That caused Soares, a retired Windsor Salt Co. worker from Mississauga, to stagger to his feet and seek help from the neighbour.

Steve Soares said his dad was beside himself when he initially misunderstood that the police had shot and killed Storm.