Halifax Regional Police are investigating after a dog was injured in a Dartmouth neighbourhood Tuesday morning.

Dog owner Greg Boutilier says his pet was shot, although police won’t confirm that at this time.

Boutilier says he had taken his two German Shepherds out to the field beside his apartment building on Brule Street when the incident occurred.

“I just took my dogs out around 10 o’clock to the middle of the field, like I do every day, and someone called my name,” says Boutilier.

“I looked up to see where my name was coming from, I heard a ‘pop’ sound, next thing you know my dog yelps, she starts bleeding on the side.”

Boutilier says he took his dogs inside and phoned police before taking Zeus to the vet clinic.

He says Zeus had two X-rays and was treated free of charge.

“My hats are off to them because I’m on disability and can’t afford a lot,” says Boutilier of Harbour Cities Veterinary Hospital.

“He’s a little bit quiet, out of place, but he seems to be doing fine. The vet says he’ll recover. I’m happy I still got my dog.”

While Boutilier believes Zeus was shot, police say they haven't found any evidence of a shooting.

"We did find a dog with a superficial wound...but we have not found any evidence of a weapon being fired of any evidence of gunplay in the area," says Const. Pierre Bourdages.

“The fur that came out, it wasn’t a pellet gun…it was something a lot bigger and at the velocity, the way it tore the fur out, it was travelling at a high speed," says Boutilier.

He also believes he was the intended target but he has no idea why someone would want to hurt him.

“It sounded like it came from my own building because they called me by my first and last name,” says Boutilier.

“I think it’s wrong to shoot animals. If they got a gripe with me, they want to shoot me, shoot me, don’t shoot my f****** animal.”

Boutilier says the incident is indicative of a serious crime problem in his north end neighbourhood.

“I live in a crazy neighbourhood…they’ve got to do something with this area. It’s retarded when you can’t even let your dogs use the washroom first thing in the morning. That’s not good, that says no one is safe in the area. It’s crazy.”

The incident also has some area residents concerned for their children and their pets.

“It does worry me quite a bit because I use the same field it happened in everyday to take the dogs to the bathroom and for their exercise,” says tenant Jessica Bastarache.

“There’s a lot of kids here. There are a lot of kids because they go to two schools here,” says area resident Brian Williams.

Police contained the area on Brule Street while they searched for evidence Tuesday morning. They say the investigation is ongoing.