I hate it when I hear stories like this, I've dug so much buckshot out of my horses that it's not even funny. I've never had one with serious damage, but you never know when it might. I caught a guy deer hunting our horse pasture, he was sitting one tree away from a posted No hunting sign, we have 9 horses out there. I took a couple shots at a squirrel sitting above his stand with my .22, "oh, I didn't see you there, and oh yeah, no one is allowed to hunt out here". He was pissed that I shot at him, but he knew I did it on purpose and that I was pissed too.