Lucky To Be Alive; Puppy Struck By 3 Cars Before Being Rescued

PALM HARBOR, FL — Jerold, a 10-month-old pointer mix, is lucky to be alive. On Wednesday night, he was struck not by just one car, but three.

Good Samaritans who witnessed the incident were able to carefully scoop up the injured pup and get him to the nearest emergency clinic. Miraculously, he not only survived being struck by three cars, but X-rays showed no broken bones. He did, however, suffer lung contusions and severe lacerations throughout his body.

The ER clinic was able to suture most of his wounds, however, one was so deep that veterinarians couldn't close it. The staff stabilized Jerold and then contacted Pasco County Animal Services to pick up the badly injured dog Thursday morning.

Animal control officers transported him to the Pasco County animal shelter, and then contacted the nonprofit Suncoast Animal League to take Jerold in on a special medical foster waiver. Animal services often calls on the Suncoast Animal League when the staff receives injured animals because the county department isn't set up to care for badly injured animals.

Jerold is considered a “foster only” at the moment, meaning he will be on hold for a few days to give his owner, if he has one, the opportunity to claim him as required by law.

Once he arrived at Suncoast Animal League, staff and volunteers immediately transferred him to Paws and Claws Animal Medical Center in Dunedin for follow-up treatment. Jerold not only spent the rest of the afternoon there but veterinarian Dr. Cindy Culpepper felt it was in his best interest to spend the night at the clinic.

"Overall, he is banged up and has a lot of soft tissue injuries," Culpepper said. "We sedated him and took a chest film. We double-checked with X-rays to make sure there were no fractures and there aren’t. We kept him sedated and bathed him, getting off all the old blood and dirt from the road.”

Culpepper’s staff cleaned and dressed Jerold's wounds, placing drains where needed and wrapping the injured areas in bandages.

“He will get his bandages off (Friday) afternoon, and we will do cold laser on his wounds," Culpepper said. "This will help heal the tissue faster. He is very sore but remains extremely sweet. I feel honored getting to help Jerold. He is such a good boy."