“We got a call (Monday) morning about a dog that had been hit by a car,” Humane Society adoption counselor Elizabeth Cooper said. “I responded to the call and went out on it. When I saw him, he was laying on the side of the road.”
When the 68-pound Griff saw Cooper get out of her car in the Oakland area, he scampered away for about a quarter of a mile.
“It was just mainly because he had no reason to trust anyone,” she said. “When I brought him in, his leg was obviously broken. He was severely matted and severely underweight. He weighs 68 pounds and should weigh about 115.”
When Cooper started shaving him down, she saw what she thought were bite wounds. After an X-ray, she saw that Griff had several old gunshot wounds and has several bullets lodged in his body. The bone in one leg is completely shattered by bullets. In the other leg he has two or three bullet wounds but is able to walk on that leg. Cooper doesn’t believe Griff was hit by a car.
He was infested with fleas, ticks and maggots and had several intestinal parasites but, overall, his bloodwork came back in good shape, she said.
It took about five hours to shave him down.
“I think from the moment I got him cornered, he looked at me with those big eyes, and he knew I was going to help him. He laid completely still while I shaved him. We’ve got his leg splinted right now. He can’t go under anesthesia until he gains a lot of weight,” Cooper said.
She is feeding Griff seven to eight small meals a day. Now that his intestinal parasites have been treated, it will make it easier for Griff to gain weight.
Cooper reached out to animal lovers through the Humane Society’s Facebook page and in 24 hours nearly $5,000 was raised for Griff’s care. His injuries won’t need all of that money, so the rest will go into the shelter’s sick and injured animal fund.
“It’s amazing. It’s absolutely amazing. It will help so many other animals,” Cooper said.
Griff, the formerly homeless dog, now has people lined up who want to adopt him. But his recovery has a long way to go.
“After his checkup (this) afternoon, he is going to come home with me to foster,” Cooper said.
“Besides all his medical, he really doesn’t understand at this point how to be a dog. He’s got of lot of obstacles to overcome to be as happy as he can be. I am completely in love with him so I will make sure it happens.”
He will have surgery on his leg at some point and he may have to have his leg amputated. When he is well enough for surgery, a vet will remove the bullets in his body.
“It’s just amazing that he’s alive,” Cooper said.
As for catching the person responsible for his neglect and injuries, there’s not much the Humane Society can do.
“There’s not really any kind of leads that would allow (investigators) to do much. There’s no telling how many miles he’s traveled since then. There are so many variables. It would be hard to track anything down,” she said.
(BG Daily News - June 11, 2014)
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