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Dog shoots owner dead

Ozgur Gevrekoglu poses with a dog. He died in Alacam, Samsun, Turkey. - Newsflash
Ozgur Gevrekoglu poses with a dog. He died in Alacam, Samsun, Turkey. - Newsflash

A man in Turkey has been reportedly shot and killed by his own dog on a hunting trip after the pet stepped on the trigger of his shotgun.

Ozgur Gevrekogulu, 32, died in Turkey’s Black Sea province of Samsun last weekend.

Local police originally took one of his hunting companions into custody, according to the Anadolu news agency.

Mr Gevrekoglu was loading equipment into the boot of his car after the trip to the Kizlan Plateau when his dog jumped on the back of a friend, stepping on the trigger of a shotgun, the Cumhuriyet newspaper reported on Sunday.

The 32-year-old hunter, who reportedly became a father just two weeks earlier, died from a bullet wound in his stomach before paramedics arrived at the scene.

Mr Gevrekoglu’s 38-year-old friend was not identified and subsequently released from custody on Sunday, but the police are still investigating the case.

An avid hunter and dog lover

The man was laid to rest in his home town on Monday, and was described as an avid hunter and a dog lover.

He was frequently seen posing with game and several hounds on his social media, but it was unclear if any of those dogs were responsible for the deadly accident.

The death on the Black Sea was reported just a few days after Turkey was shaken by the footage of violence at an animal shelter in the central city of Konya, where at least one dog was beaten to death by an employee.

The Turkish public typically feels strongly about animal rights, and street protests against animal violence are held as frequently as political rallies.

The dog’s death in Konya over the weekend trended on social media under the hashtag “massacre”, pressing authorities to investigate.

Local police launched an investigation and the governor’s office said two people have been detained.