Injured dog laid on the freeway for 24 hours and just waited to die

I will never know how, but PD ended up on the 110 Freeway and she was hit by a car.  A woman spotted her, called Animal Control and was assured they would come out.

24 hours later, she drove on the freeway again, and the dog was still there!!!!!  She called her niece, Maria Garcia, and she knew to text Hope For Paws right away for immediate help!

I received the approximate location (110 FWY northbound), and rushed to the location.  On the way to the scene, I wondered if it’s possible for the dog to still be alive, but I had to confirm for myself.  I drove south on the freeway, then exited, and got on the freeway again to go north).  This is a tricky situation… driving at the speed of the rest of the cars on the freeway, looking for a tiny object, and in a split second determining if the dog is dead or alive.

It was a nerve-wracking moment, but I spotted the dog and she seemed to be alive!  I knew I couldn’t do this one alone…it was too dangerous, and I had to consider my life and the lives of everybody else on the freeway.  There was nowhere for me to pull over and do this safely - this required the help of the Los Angeles Police Department.

I exited right away and searched for the closest Police Department, and I found the Southeast Division in South Central.  I walked into the station, an officer spotted me right away and her eyes immediately went down to my cargo pants where I had my camera.  I realized what was going on, and assured her right away that it was just a camera and slowly pulled it out of my pocket.  Phew  😊

She asked what she can do for me, and I explained the situation to her.  She asked me to wait a second, and then Officer Gray came out to talk to me.  I have never been in this type of situation before, but I explained to him exactly what kind of help I was asking for - I needed him to STOP THE FREEWAY FOR ME so I can save a dog who I honestly believe is still alive.  I had no idea how this conversation would go - the LAPD must be one of the busiest departments in this country, but he said he will be happy to help me with that. 

I explained the tricky location, so we agreed to meet at the entrance to the 105 FWY (in Watts) and we will continue from there together.  I was in position, Officer Gray and Officer Nichols arrived, and we got on the freeway.  It was just amazing for me to have the police car clearing the way for me to get in the car-pool lane, and then we got on the HUGE bridge connecting the 105 FWY to the 110 FWY!  You could see the whole City of Angels from the top of the bridge.  As soon as we went down the bridge, the sirens turned on and the officers started the traffic break maneuver to slow down traffic and enable me to find the dog.  For this video I added a bird's eye view so it will be easier to understand the situation.

I spotted the little dog, stopped my car, and I was so nervous… the dog could have bolted in any direction, she could have bitten me, but I was prepared to NOT LET GO!  I approached the dog slowly with a blanket, wrapped her, and she just looked into my eyes.  She didn’t fight… she just allowed me to pick her up - she knew she needed help.

I thanked the officers and got back in my car so traffic can continue to flow.  In honor of the two LAPD officers, I named the little girl PD.

PD was so happy to be rescued, and as we were driving to the hospital, she gave me little kisses as a thank you… it was just so sweet of her 💕

It’s important to mention that this rescue took place a day after Valentine’s Day of 2020… just days before this whole world changed forever!  It’s almost weird to see everybody without a mask 😷 

I rushed PD to CARES for medical attention.  It was the weekend, but Doctor Lisa Youn offered to come in on her day off to make sure she was OK and evaluate if she needed emergency care.

PD was so cool, she allowed us to shave her and get all the fleas off her body.  When we got to her hind leg, she started crying and we knew something was broken there.  She was sedated, X-rayed and bathed, but I didn’t get to see that because I had to go on another rescue (I apologize for not having a bath scene - I know you love those).

Medically, this was a challenging one to fix - her tibia was broken, she had a large laceration and no skin to close it, she had metatarsal fractures, she suffered from proximal intertarsal joint instability and she had torn ligaments!  Amputation is the easy solution to such a challenging problem, but we don’t shy away from big problems because we have Smart Approach Vet - Doctor Antonio Pedraza on our side with the rest of the CARES team and of course, we are fortunate to have you by our side with donations that make it all possible!

Dr. Pedraza put together a whole explanation that will walk you through this whole complicated process that took 3 surgeries that eventually helped us save her leg so she could run on all 4 for the rest of her life!  It’s really amazing to see what was accomplished here.

On the day of the rescue, our friends at L.A. Animal Rescue offered to foster PD, and Tania Arana became her foster mom for the next few months.  She had to do many trips back to the hospital for bandage changes - even during the lockdown.

PD has already been adopted, but there are many other loving animals who are still looking for a home.  Please visit our Adoptable Animals page where you can adopt a dog, a cat, a bunny, a pig or even goat. 

This has been a rough year for people all over the world and I am so grateful for having your support through it.  I can’t imagine my life not being able to help these animals.

If you are not a Hope For Paws member yet, please keep in mind that it’s a great New Year’s Resolution and you can join our team today on this page. 

Last thing, but very important - a gift for you and your pets!  Over the past year, I know that 948 of you have completed writing your wills.  It makes me happy that so many of you now have plans for your pets and I hope many of you will take 20 minutes to accomplish this important task - it’s completely FREE: https://www.freewill.com/HopeForPaws

Have an amazing 2021!

Happy New Year!

Eldad

p.s. PD has an Instagram account!!!  Please click here to follow her: https://www.instagram.com/pipudingbat/