Lady Gaga’s Dog Walker Says He’s Recovering After Being Shot in Dognapping
‘A VERY CLOSE CALL’
Lady Gaga’s dog walker, who was shot last week while thieves ripped two of the singer’s French bulldogs away from him, admitted he had “a very close call with death” but said he is now recovering. “I will write and say more later, but the gratitude for all the love I feel from around this planet is immense and intense,” Ryan Fischer posted on Instagram on Monday morning, accompanied by two images of himself from his hospital bed. Fischer, 30, was shot once in the chest as he wrestled with two dognappers in a surprise attack in West Hollywood on Wednesday night. The thieves managed to drive off with Gustav and Koji. Lady Gaga, who was in Rome, quickly announced a $500,000 reward “no questions asked” for their safe return.
Fischer called Asia—the one dog that managed to get away—his guardian angel, writing “my panicked screams calmed as I looked at her, even though it registered that the blood pooling around her tiny body was my own.”
“I cradled Asia as best I could, thanked her for all the incredible adventures we’d been on together, apologized that I couldn’t defend her brothers, and then resolved that I would still try to save them… and myself,” he added.
On Friday evening, the two stolen dogs were safely dropped off to police by an “uninvolved and unassociated” woman who had found them tied around a pole in an alley. Fischer said he was “humbled and grateful that attention and focus from the police were enough to get Koji and Gustav back to safety.” He added: “I know they are committed to bringing these criminals and attempted murderers to justice.”