Dog shoots owner during hunting trip in Russia

A hunter has been fatally shot by his own dog in a freak accident in Russia

The 64-year-old man, who local media identified as Sergei Terekhov, had gone hunting with his brother in a remote area in the Saratov region near the Volga river, according to the regional investigative committee. 

The tragic turn of events occurred when Mr Terekhov went to let two Estonian hounds out of his Lada car. Quoting an investigator, local news site Region 64 reported that Mr Terekhov's double-barrelled shotgun had been resting against his knee and was pointing toward him.

As his brother looked on, one of the dogs jumped toward Mr Terekhov and hit the trigger with its paw, discharging the gun into the hunter's abdomen. 

His brother drove him to the hospital, but he died of his wounds on the way.

“A pretty experienced hunter died,” investigator Alexander Galanin said. “He was sober and had a gun licence. Everything was in order. It was an accident.”

Photographs from Mr Terekhov's page on the Odnoklassniki social network showed he was an avid sportsman who loved hunting rabbits. In one of them, he posed next to two rabbit carcasses with a shotgun and a dog.

Along with fishing, hunting has long been popular in Russia and was celebrated by authors such as Leo Tolstoy. One of the country's most beloved films tells the tale of a Finn whose Russian friends take him on a hunting trip with a case of vodka. 

President Vladimir Putin has gone on several well-publicised hunting trips and was famously photographed striding shirtless with a rifle in the Tuva region in 2007.