Neighbor Calls 911 on Dog in Backyard Who Won't Move, Dog Found Frozen to Ground
A hurt dog rang in the new year freezing cold and alone. Now, he’s being given a second chance.
A witness saw a golden retriever get hit by a car in a neighborhood of Flint, Michigan, on the night of New Year’s Eve.
She heard the dog whine and watched as he ran into the cold and lay down in her backyard.
A day later, he still hadn’t moved and the witness decided to call 911.
Bill Heatley, one of the organizers behind Streethearts Animal Rescue, arrived on the scene after being notified by the Genesee County 911 Communications Center.
Heatley found the dog badly injured but still alive. He was freezing and frozen to the ground.
“When I got to the point where I meant to move him I had wrapped him and I went to lift the blanket and it wouldn’t move,” said Heatley. “I actually had to peel him off the ice.”
The rescuers were able to safely remove the dog and rush him to the nearby Veterinary Medical Hospital.
There, the staff discovered that relatively speaking, he was quite lucky.
Fearing organ failure, veterinarians were glad to find that although he was badly hurt, the senior dog only suffered from a fractured femur. After being stabilized, members of Streethearts named him Feliz.
“The first consideration with this dog was organ damage or failure, and thankfully the veterinarians both say because of his very thick heavy coat, that probably saved him,” Heatley said.
Unfortunately, because his injury was so close to his hip socket, Heatley couldn’t fix it alone.
Feliz would have to undergo costly surgery. Hopefully, he will be able to get it done at Small Animal Clinic at the Michigan State University Veterinary School.
Streethearts started a crowdfunding campaign on YouCaring and have since been able to raise over $3,000 for Feliz.
He is in a stable condition but if he cannot get the surgery, he will most likely lose his leg.
Now, Streethearts is tasked with finding Feliz’s owner. “This is not a stray dog, this is somebody’s loved pet,” Heatley said.
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