Family's injured dog fights for its life

A family dog is fighting for its life after apparently being attacked during a home burglary.

The 13-pound cockapoo named Ranger suffered a skull fracture. Doctors at the Southeast Valley Vet Clinic, 10572 S. 700 East, were trying to remain hopeful Monday about his prognosis, noting that Ranger has shown a little bit of steady improvement since being taken to the hospital Saturday night.

A doctor at the hospital said head-trauma injuries were hard to predict, and whether Ranger would recover is hard to say at this point, but the hospital was encouraged with the slow progress.

As Ranger recovers, his owners are making a plea to the public to help find the person, or people, responsible for attacking their small dog. Two rewards have also been offered.

Vicky Kunz and her family went out of town last week for a vacation in Yellowstone National Park. The neighbors were watching Ranger and took him for a walk about 10 p.m. Friday. When they were done, they put Ranger into his gated backyard, Kunz said.

The next morning, neighbors noticed the garage door at the Kunz house, near the Herriman-Riverton border, was open. That afternoon, neighbors called the Kunz family and told them the garage was open and Ranger was missing. Already debating whether to go home Saturday night or Sunday morning, Vicky said the decision was made to leave that day.

"We rushed home thinking the dog must be running around the neighborhood," she said.

Instead, when the family opened the door, they found Ranger "laying in a pool of blood and having a seizure," Kunz said.

While Ranger was rushed to the vet, other family members continued looking around the home. It wasn't until 30 minutes after the family returned home that they realized there were several missing items.

A handgun stored in the back of a closet was taken, along with bottles filled with loose change, a wedding band and a purse that Kunz said contained nothing of value.

"They must have spent some time in the house looking around," she said.

Other items, such as laptops and a Wii video system, were untouched, Kunz said.

The Kunz family believes the burglar entered through a window that wasn't locked and then tried to leave through the back door, which was deadbolted when they went on vacation but not when they returned.