Dogs are often referred to as being "man's best friend", in acknowledgement of their loyalty and faithfulness, as well as their willingness to protect. Yet a disturbing trend has started to emerge in the last few years, which may call into question the veracity of the saying. 

Since the early 2000s, an alarming number of people have been shot by dogs, and the numbers only seem to be increasing. The trend was first identified in 2015 by the Washington Post, which reported that six people in the US had been shot by their canine friends in the previous four years and four more in the six years prior to that.

One tragic case to hit the headlines in recent years involved a Turkish man who had become a father days before his death.

Ozgur Gevrekogulu, 32, was accidentally killed by his pooch at the end of a hunting trip to Turkey's Samsun province in November 2022.

Mr Gevrekogulu was loading equipment into the boot of his car when his dog jumped on the back of a friend and, as it did so, stepped on the trigger of a gun.

The gun went off, and a bullet went into his stomach, an injury that unfortunately proved fatal.

He died from his wound before paramedics could arrive at the scene, according to the news website Cumhuriyet.

Mr Gevrekogulu had become a father two weeks earlier. His hunting companions were briefly taken into custody before they were subsequently released.

More recently, a man in the US was accidentally injured by his pit bull in a shooting incident earlier this month.

Jerald Kirkwood told police in Memphis that he and a woman were lying in bed with a firearm when his dog jumped up and inadvertently caused the weapon to discharge.

A bullet grazed the man atop his left thigh, according to the local news station WREG.

Oreo, a one-year-old pit bull, had got its paw stuck in the trigger guard of his owner's gun.

As he tried to wriggle free, he squeezed the trigger, injuring his owner in the process.

Kirkwood's partner later told the Fox 13 news channel that Oreo “is a playful dog, and he likes to jump around and stuff like that, and it just went off”.