"An awesome dog, just the nicest, kindest, sweetest dog," said Brent Peterson, the man who rescued the dog from an Amish farm in Harmony, Minnesota.

The snow-white dog was out Saturday afternoon when he went missing.

Peterson and his wife started searching, and found him behind their house bleeding.

"We found him in the backyard and he had a big red spot on him, so we knew he had been injured," said Peterson. But, Peterson had no idea the severity of that injury.

Rushed to the pet hospital, he quickly learned Eli had been shot by a pellet gun.

"They couldn't even get him to stabilize, I think he was in shock and lost a lot of blood and even with the transfusions, they couldn't get him back to a level where he could basically undergo a surgery," Peterson said.

Investigators have canvassed the densly populated neighborhood, and are looking into what happened and why.

"I'd like to believe this is an isolated incident, we don't believe we have somebody going around shooting animals, this is the first report we've had of something like this, and hope it's the last," said Maple Grove Police Captain Adam Lindquist.

"The neighbors and I met out here on Saturday to talk this through, and were just like, this could have easily been a child, the kids play in the culd de sac regularily," said Peterson.

Peterson's family, with two young children, was able to say goodbye to Eli, but are devasted they lost their beloved pet.

"I think the gravity of it hasn't totally set in, but they do realize we didn't come home with Eli and that he is in doggie heaven, so I think from that standpoint, they do understand a little bit he is gone, but it's not easy," he shared.

Maple Grove police say it is a misdemeanor to shoot a pellet gun within the city. And, to shoot an animal, like a family pet, can bring felony charges.

Investigators are asking for help from the public, if you saw or heard anything.