Posted on 05/28/2014 12:48:48 PM PDT by Altariel
Abandoned six-month-old doberman puppy, Atticus, is being given a new life after being hit by a car on Scioto Trail and being rescued by a group of local good samaritans.
Portsmouth resident Lisa Potts was sitting at home when she heard what she thought was a child crying outside. She ran to investigate and saw the young doberman in the middle of the street, and her two new neighbors running towards him, stopping traffic in his lane. Potts went to check on the dog, running between the many lanes of busy traffic, while a neighbor watched her daughter.
“There were semi-trucks everywhere. The three of us were in the highway, trying to stop traffic, but we weren’t thinking of that,” Potts said. “We just knew we had to save the puppy, because if we didn’t, then he was going to be killed.”
Potts said that other responders were afraid to get near the dog, in fear he might bite. Potts claimed that she reached down and began to comfort the dog with soothe words and reassuring pets. The crippled puppy responded by licking her hand.
“The young girl with me was crying and asked if he was my dog. I told her no, but said we couldn’t just leave him in the middle of the street,” Potts recounted the accident. “So, we all came together to get him to safety.”
Things began to speed up as a street of neighbors came together with little things to help. Maggie Clark brought a blanket to wrap the dog in. Marsha Justice supplied a board as a makeshift stretcher. Rick Potts, Lisa’s husband, helped the two unnamed helpers get the dog into Justice’s vehicle and she drove him to the vet.
The breeder who sold the dog came forth with information on the owners. After a search, it was determined that the puppy had been abandoned.
“Obviously, you never want to hit an animal, but I don’t understand how anyone could hit an animal and not go back to see if it was okay and to check if they could help,” Potts said. “That was a little discouraging, but then you have to think that two other people quickly responded, along with myself and then we had all of these other people, who didn’t know each other, coming together to do what we could to save this animal. It is heartwarming when a community pulls together like this.”
While Potts was one of the first responders on the scene, she doesn’t claim much of the responsibility.
“Honestly, my role was small,” Potts said. “It was Kim who is the hero, along with the other two I didn’t get names for.”
Wheelersburg animal rights advocate and dog rescuer Kim Bentley took over the care of Atticus and has since overseen medical treatments, fundraising and will soon start the hunt for Atticus’s “forever home.”
Bentley paid for the treatment he received at a local veterinarian’s office and then took him to VCA Mill Run Animal Hospital in Hilliard, Ohio. X-rays revealed that Atticus had two severely fractured back legs, multiple fractures in his pelvis and three fractures in his front paw. He has already undergone one surgery and is preparing for another one Thursday, May 29.
Bentley originally started a youcaring.com account to raise money for Atticus, with a goal of $3,000. Recent findings have raised his expected bills to rise up closer to $3,800. So far, the account has managed to raise $1,389 for Atticus’s expected medical bills. The fundraiser can be found at www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/helping-atticus/182125
“According to his doctor, the prognosis is good, barring any unseen complications. He is looking at a long recovery though,” Bentley said. “There are so many people involved in this and I feel like I’m getting all of the credit. There are tons of people behind the scenes helping Atticus get better. I just want everyone to know I acknowledge all those who help and I’m passing along the good wishes that people give to me to all involved. I want people to know they count.”
Joseph Pratt can be contacted at the Portsmouth Daily Times 740-353-3101, EXT 287, or by Twitter @JosephPratt03.
Doggie ping
if they were coming together to save a human baby the media would not be calling them “Samaritans”
It’s good that the heroes practiced hesed. Sets an example for us all.
Poor little baby....what a cutie.
This is ~so~ wonderful.
May God richly bless each and every one of his saviors.
20 years ago, I took one of my own dogs to a local vet for a routine check and he, seeing that I had Dobes, offered me one that had been hit by a car.
Even though the dog had been fully treated and operated on, the owner never paid the bill so they held onto the now unwanted “imperfect” dog.
“Jazz” had been languishing in a crate in the back of the clinic without benefit of any physical therapy or rehabilitation.
She carried her injured leg almost at belly height and refused to bear any weight on it at all.
[I’m sure you see where this is going] :)
Anywho, after several months of constant encouragement and “therapy” involving walking up and down basement steps to force her to work the leg, she went home with a biker couple we knew, after Jazz fell in love with their little 7 or 8 year old girl.
They didn’t mind her hideous surgery “Frankenscar” or her persistent limp.
They all thought she was *beautiful* and ~perfect~.
I had to Google “hesed”.
There was never a more perfect word.
Thank you for showing it to me, my dear friend.
Indeed
this is a dog thread, not an abortion thread...........but you knew that.........
Why do you have a problem with people showing compassion to animals when there's tons of other threads out there supporting the pro-life movement?
he does this every freaking time and it’s getting damn old.
geronl you’re not winnng anyone over with your attack angle here. just stop it.
Waiting for the dog haters to post.
You’re very welcome.
Hopefully he will one day realize that by devaluing his fellow Freepers, he undermines his claimed support for the pro-life movement.
If all who are alive are worthy of being treated with dignity and respect, it follows that one should treat people (and other living things) with dignity and respect if one wishes to be philosophically and morally consistent.
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