Lady Gaga Dog Walker Shares Photos From Hospital Bed After Being Shot by Dognappers

Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, is speaking out for the first time since he was shot in the chest Wednesday by someone who stole the singer’s two French bulldogs — Koji and Gustav — in a Hollywood attack. Fischer shared photos from the hospital alongside his recollection of the disturbing incident on Instagram Monday, three days after Koji and Gustav were returned to Gaga safely amid the ongoing investigation into their theft.

He began by recalling the moments after he was shot when Gaga’s third dog, an “angel” named Asia, came over to lay by his side as he bled on the ground. “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,” Fischer wrote.

The longtime dog walker said he hoped even as he was being cared for that his description of the dogs to police would be enough to facilitate their safe return as he noted that his life has since “taken a very sudden and unexpected turn.” Still recovering from a “very close call with death,” Fischer continued that he has “for the most part” stayed away from the media coverage of the dognapping.

“I will write and say more later, but the gratitude for all the love I feel from around this planet is immense and intense. I felt your healing support!” he wrote, thanking everyone for their kind thoughts and the police for investigating his shooting. “I am so appreciative of everything you continue to do.”

“First responders and health care workers: you literally saved my life and helped me take newborn walks; I can’t thank you enough,” he wrote in a long list of family, friends and caretakers who have kept him going throughout this past week. Finally, to Gaga herself, he wrote, “Your babies are back and the family is whole… we did it! You have shown so much support throughout this whole crisis to both me and my family. But your support as a friend, despite your own traumatic loss from your kids, was unwavering. I love you and thank you.” As for now, Fischer said there is still “a lot of healing” that needs to happen on his part, but he can’t wait for the moment he is “bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and Gustav.”