Lady Gaga’s dog walker, who was shot while out for a stroll with the star’s French bulldogs in Los Angeles, penned an emotional social media post on Monday morning describing the ambush and thanking the star for her support.
“4 days ago, while a car sped away and blood poured from my gun shot wound, an angel trotted over and laid next to me. My panicked screams calmed as I looked at her, even though it registered that the blood pooling around her tiny body was my own,” Ryan Fischer, 39, wrote on Instagram, referencing Gaga’s pooch, Miss Asia, who escaped the dognapping.
“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, who shared two snaps of him recovering in a hospital bed, including one showing a breathing tube, was ambushed by two brutes last Wednesday in West Hollywood while taking Gags’ Frenchies, Gustav, Koji and Miss Asia, out for a walk while the star was in Italy.
Video shows the suspects jumping out of a white Nissan Altima and demanding Fischer turn over the pups but the avowed animal lover and professional celebrity dog walker refused.
Fischer scuffled with the suspects, described as two black males between the ages of 20 and 25, who then shot him in the chest, snatched Gustav and Koji and sped away.
Video shows Fischer wailing on the sidewalk in agony, screaming that he was bleeding out as Miss Asia ran to his side.
“Hopeful that my calm(ish) and forceful pleas for the urgency of my care as well as the focused descriptions of the dogs would be enough to help me and get enough police and media attention to find the boys, I looked backed at my guardian angel. I smiled at her shaking form, thankful that at least she would be okay,” Fischer wrote of Miss Asia.
“From that point, right as the neighbors poured from their homes and restaurant to us on the sidewalk, life has taken a very sudden and unexpected turn.”
For two days, the dogs were missing — but late Friday, they were found. A good Samaritan, who purportedly found the pups tied to a pole outside miles away from where they were captured, scooped them up and returned them to a Los Angeles police station.
“I am still in recovery from a very close call with death and have kept myself (for the most part, I mean I am human) from the growing media story. 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! Thank you,” Fischer wrote.
The Ohio native and former New Yorker said he was “humbled and grateful” that the attention and focus from the police were enough to get the pooches back to safety and he knows “they are committed to bringing these criminals and attempted murderers to justice.”
“I am so appreciative of everything you continue to do,” he said.
While he was in the ICU and later in his recovery, Fischer said texts and talks from family and friends, along with dog videos and photos from clients, kept his spirits up and “worked miracles.”
“Seeing their faces light up when you said my name motivates me to keep pushing so I can play with them and see you again soon. I love you all! First responders and health care workers: you literally saved my life and helped me take newborn walks, I can’t thank you enough,” the post reads.
Fischer concluded the two-part post by thanking Gaga.
“[Y]our 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,” he wrote.
“And now? A lot of healing still needs to happen, but I look forward to the future and the moment when I get bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and Gustav.”