It was Thursday night about 11pm and I decided on a whim to go out and get a hamburger. As I was driving down one of the two major streets in Moorpark, I spotted what looked to me from a distance like a garbage bag in the middle of the road.
It was late and dark and I was unsure of what it was so I slowed down. As my headlights approached, I remember seeing the glistening of this little boy's eyes. He was a small, scared little puppy curled up in a ball. I knew right away that this dog had been hit by a car and just could not believe how someone could leave him in the middle of this major street!
I slammed on my breaks, put the car in reverse and as fast as possible jumped out to see how badly he was hurt. Scared and not knowing who I was, he pulled his body to the side of the road. It was clear that he could not move his back legs as he dragged them behind him with blood dripping from his mouth.
I immediately needed help moving this little guy into my car, so I called the Moorpark Police and then another local TLC volunteer to help. As soon as the Moorpark Police arrived, they put cones out to block off oncoming traffic.
Some good Samaritans stopped their cars and helped by providing blankets to keep him warm, then felt his body for obvious breaks before we lifted him. This little puppy was in shock. He laid there still and did not even blink. After we covered him in blankets, we all proceeded to move him into my car, and I along with another TLC volunteer rushed him to a local pet emergency hospital.
We talked to this pup the whole way there. We tried to keep him lucid and aware of his surroundings as we wanted to try to size up the severity of his injuries. It was very hard to do as this dog was just hit by a car, was in shock and we weren't familiar with him. We had to proceed carefully to prevent being bitten. On the way, we phoned the hospital and they were there waiting to take him out of the car as soon as we arrived.
We waited in the waiting room to hear his status. Was he going to die? Was he going to make it? Who does he belong to? How did he get out? How are we going to call his owners and tell them that he is here? All those thoughts run through your mind as you sit and wait for the news.
Within a few minutes, the vet tech came out and apprised us of the situation. This pup was not wearing an identification tag and had no microchip -- therefore we did not have anyone to contact for him. His blood pressure and body temperature were very low, he had blood in his urine and he was hooked up to oxygen and IV's while they ran blood work and x-rays.
As they worked to stabilize him further, they told us that both of Cody's hips were torn from their sockets and that he was in A LOT of pain. They could not identify what the blood was dripping from his mouth and did not yet have the results as to what was going on with his organs.
We went to the back where they were trying to stabilize him. We took a few pictures to hang up around Moorpark where he was found, hoping to get the attention of his owners by the morning. After waiting to hear for about 30 minutes, we left for home to hang these posters while ER continued to perform life-saving treatment on him.
A few hours later we gave a call to check on him. Cody had been hooked up to IV fluids for many hours and despite the catheter they had put in him, he was not urinating. In addition to his dislocated pelvis, now the concern was that he had a perforated bladder. Ultrasounds were being done right away and we had to wait to hear his fate. Feeling heavy hearted, we plugged away at the 50 posters we were hanging throughout the city in the early hours of the morning...
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