Dog shoots hunter

A Bulgarian hunter was shot by his own dog when he tried to knock a bird out of its mouth with his gun.

Vasil Plovdiv, 35, was shooting quail in Rasgrad in the north-east of the country with his German Pointer when the dog, which had retrieved a bird, refused to drop it.

According to police, Plovdiv tried to dislodge the dead quail from the pointer's mouth with the butt of his rifle but the dog sprung at him, knocking the trigger and peppering the hunter's chest with shot.

He is being treated for chest injuries at the local hospital.