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OKMULGEE COUNTY, Okla. – Authorities are searching for a person responsible for shooting a puppy in the face and leaving her trapped in a cage on the side of a road in Oklahoma.

Okmulgee County deputies say a 6-month-old female dog was shot twice, stuffed into a small crate and dumped along Gun Club Rd. in Okmulgee.

“It was rough,” Sgt. Aaron Swayze told KFOR. “Got a six-month-old puppy, defenseless, and somebody would do this to it. It’s just, it’s infuriating.”

Sgt. Swayze said the puppy, affectionately called Dusty by her rescuers, was alert and friendly, but she wasn’t able to move very much, and she didn’t have any shelter from the sun.

“There was a lot of blood on the dog, a lot of dried blood, blood in the bottom of the kennel,” Sgt. Swayze said. They rushed her to the hospital after they discovered she was shot in the left rear leg and in the face.

“It was right above the right eye and the bullet traveled through the sinus cavity and exited through the top left side of the dog`s mouth, knocked out a couple teeth and exited the dog,” Sgt. Swayze said. Stunningly, the veterinarian says she’ll be okay.

“Other than the possibility of losing an eye, the dog didn`t suffer any extensive damage,” Sgt. Swayze said. “She’s lucky to be alive.”

The harness and leash she was wearing didn’t have any identifying information. Investigators said the puppy didn’t appear to come from a dog-fighting den.

“It appears that the dog was set out in the cage and then it was shot while inside the cage,” Sgt. Swayze said.

At this point, the Oklahoma Alliance for Animals is offering a $500 reward for information that leads to the arrest of the person responsible for shooting the dog.

If you have any information on the crime, call the Okmulgee County Sheriff’s Office at (918) 756-4311.

A GoFundMe account has been created to raise funds for her recovery. The Okmulgee County Humane Society is also asking anyone interested in fostering or adopting the dog to contact them at (918) 759-2000.