WHISTLER (NEWS 1130) – A woman says her four-year-old therapy dog has been shot and killed by a hunter who mistook the animal for a wolf near Whistler.

Vale Calderoni says she and another handler were hiking with 10 dogs on Monday when she heard a loud bang and instinctively crouched down.

When she got back up, she saw her beloved dog Kaoru had been hit by a bullet about three metres away and was bleeding profusely.

Calderoni says the dog was suffering and died shortly after.

She says a hunter shot the dog at close range, thinking it was a wolf.

Calderoni says Kaoru was a Tamaskan dog, a breed that looks similar to wolves, and was a therapy dog that provided emotional support to many people, including children with autism.

She has posted a video on YouTube.