An abandoned dog who was hit by a car and found by the side of the road has been given a new lease of life after having her leg amputated, and now she is positively thriving.
On July 11, rescuers discovered the white dog, named Dove, on the side of a country road in northern Louisiana. She is believed to be a Catahoula leopard dog mix and around 4 months old. But, during her short life, Dove has already endured so much pain.
Jennifer Pesnell, the rescue coordinator for PAWS of Northeast Louisiana, told Newsweek that she “was terrified” for Dove’s health as soon as she saw her. The pup was emaciated, had a badly broken leg, covered in bites, and was so weak that she was “barely clinging to life.”
It is not clear what exactly Dove went through, though Pesnell said she suspects the pup may have been part of an unwanted litter and either dumped or allowed to wander out to the road where she was hit by a car.
“Dove had a badly broken and infected right front leg, bruising on her lungs and pneumonia, and she had small rocks in her belly from eating whatever she could find,” Pesnell said. “She was dehydrated, emaciated, hypothermic and severely anemic due to a massive hookworm and flea infestation.
“She spent the first 48 hours getting round-the-clock care in ICU and received a blood transfusion, deworming, pain medication, antibiotics, IV fluids, wound flushing, vaccines, flea and tick treatment,” Pesnell added.
Once Dove was strong enough and was no longer anemic, she was cleared for surgery to have the broken leg amputated. Due to the location of the break and the infection, there was no way of repairing the bone, so removing it was Dove’s best option.
She underwent the amputation on August 6, and since then, she has continued to make an excellent recovery. The pup is doing better than Pesnell ever imagined possible, and she is adapting to ‘tripawd’ life impeccably well.
Pesnell said: “She is happier and gets around much better since the amputation, and she’s so fast on three legs. She is finally able to be a normal puppy. She loves to play with other dogs, with toys, and even bugs—anything is a potential playmate for Dove.”
Pesnell will continue fostering Dove until she is ready to be adopted and finds her forever home. The rescuer has been documenting the dog’s journey on TikTok (@jenrosepes) and internet users have become so invested in Dove ever since.
Many of the clips have gone viral with hundreds of thousands of views, and Pesnell said she hopes Dove will inspire others to foster or adopt an animal in need of a home.
Through PAWS of Northeast Louisiana, Pesnell and her team have helped countless animals by providing spay-and-neuter assistance to pets, and by rescuing those in search of a loving home.
“Seeing folks cheering Dove on from all over the world is extremely uplifting,” Pesnell said. “From an unwanted puppy fighting for her life on the side of the road, to countless people falling in love with her through the internet, Dove deserves all the support.
“There are puppies just like Dove all over the Deep South; wonderful, resilient, happy, loving dogs who are just hoping for their own second chance. Please adopt your next pet, foster for your local shelter or rescue, or donate to rescue groups that promote spay and neuter.”
After seeing how much happier and healthier Dove is now, hundreds of social-media users have taken to the comments section to share their delight.
One comment on TikTok reads: “You can’t keep a good Dove down! She’s living her best life!”
Another TikTok user wrote: “Look at her go! I’m so happy for her. She’s so happy. Thank you for saving her.”
A third commenter added: “This brought tears to my eyes.”
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