The dog was actually killed by an animal.
 / FOX21: Kurt Story
COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- A couple in Colorado Springs started looking for answers and warning others after finding their dog dead just outside their backyard with what appeared to be a bullet wound.
George and Diana DeBoer said their 4-year-old chihuahua Chico was shot Saturday morning behind their home on Purcell Drive in the Stetson Hills neighborhood.
"I looked over the fence, and I found him lying about 20 feet, 15 feet, outside the fence, and he had been shot," George said.
George thought someone lured Chico out of the backyard and then shot him at close range with a pellet gun or a .22 caliber pistol.
After the Humane Society of the Pike's Peak Region looked at Chico, they determined his wound wasn't from a bullet, but an animal.
They said what appeared to be bullet wounds were actually puncture wounds from the teeth of a medium to large animal. Chico was shaken and his spine was broken.
The DeBoers said they are also worried about other dogs and kids in the neighborhood.