Dog 'shoots' Kiwi owner

A man from New Zealand is recovering from surgery after being shot in the buttock by his dog.

The animal is believed to have stood on the trigger of a .22 bolt-action rifle in a freak accident, reports the Telegraph.

The dog's owner was getting into the back seat of a four-wheel drive vehicle with the rifle alongside him when the animal jumped in.

The 40-year-old was among a group of four people who had slaughtered a pig at Te Kopuru, 90 miles northwest of Auckland.

They told the police that they thought the gun was unloaded, but it had contained five shells.

The victim was airlifted by rescue helicopter to Whangarei Hospital where surgeons removed the bullet and he is now in a stable condition.

Mark Going, a St John Ambulance manager, said paramedics who attended were told the rifle had been fired through the seat, lodging a bullet in the man's left buttock.