Community Steps Up To Help Injured Dog
MIAMI (CBSMiami) -- He's still a little wobbly, but thanks to a community's kindness, a dog named Robo is well on his way to recovery after being hit by a car.
Jeena Velasquez heard the accident March 5th at about 9:15 p.m. on Sunset Drive near 132nd Avenue.
"I heard the car's brakes screeching and I saw it drove away. I was wondering where the accident was and I heard a faint whimpering," she said.
She picked up the badly injured Catahoula off the street and rushed him to an emergency vet.
"They told me he had an open fracture which was bleeding that they actually bandaged up to stop the bleeding, then he had a dislocated hip on the other side, and that he was going to need emergency surgery," said Velasquez.
The dog had a tag that said his name is "Bobo" and he's deaf. It also had a phone number, but it was disconnected. Without surgery the dog would die, and without an owner there was no one to pay for surgery .
"I said to myself, 'If this was my dog and I changed my phone number for whatever reason, I'm not going to want someone to just quit on my dog - that's my angel- so I just did what I would've done for my dog and I just claimed responsibility for him without even worrying about the cost," Velasquez explained.
The surgery cost nearly $3,400. Valesquez's friend Paola Leal stepped in to help. She set up a fundraising website with pictures of the injured pup, whom they renamed Robo, since metal pins now hold his shattered leg together. The website worked.
"It was only three photos, but those three photos were enough to get everyone's attention and within not even 24 hours we had multiple donations more than $1,000," said Leal. After two and a half weeks, the donations reached more than $3,000.
Town and Country Animal Hospital, where Poala works, offered to care for Robo while he heals.
"She came to us with the dog and he needed a lot of aftercare so we volunteered to take care of it for her," said veterinarian Dr. Eric Wenke.
Robo is making progress, but the search for his owner hasn't gone so well, even though he had a microchip.
"When they tried contacting the owner to let them know your pet was found they declined any information," said Leal.
"We do want to find a home for him. I would love to adopt him myself but that's just not possible, so we're just going to look for a home for him," added Velasquez.
Before Robo can go home, he'll spend another month in the hospital and he'll need more surgery to repair his dislocated hip. That surgery will cost about $2,000.
If you'd like to help, click here.