LAS CRUCES, N.M. – A New Mexico man who made headlines last year when he was shot in the back by his dog in a hunting mishap says the pet has died.

Sonny “Tex” Gilligan tells the Las Cruces Sun-News that his dog Charlie somehow got off his property and apparently was shot by a rancher.

Last October, the 120-pound Rottweiler mix accidentally pulled the trigger during a hunt for jackrabbits in the desert west of Las Cruces.

The 74-year-old Gilligan says Charlie got his foot on the gun’s safety while in the back seat of a parked truck. The trigger was pulled when the dog’s foot slipped off.

The bullet went through the driver’s seat and struck Gilligan’s back, breaking some ribs and shattering his collarbone.

He was hospitalized for nearly three weeks.