Tiger The Pit Bull Injured By Hit-And-Run Driver In Queens: How You Can Help

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — A Forest Hills dog trainer has started a GoFundMe page to raise money for his pit bull-mix friend, Tiger, who the owner said was the victim of a hit-and-run in 2015.

The car accident has damaged Tiger’s knees, owner Robert Rodriguez said, turning a once sprightly animal into a limping, lethargic canine who can no longer join his owner in the jumping exercises he once enjoyed.

When Rodriguez’s dachshund was stolen in front of his home in 2010, things seemed hopeless as fliers went unanswered and searches turned up futile. (For more information on this and other neighborhood stories, subscribe to Patch to receive daily newsletters and breaking news alerts.)

But then Rodriguez stumbled upon a stray pit-mix puppy eating garbage over in Jamaica. After two months of being unclaimed, the once nameless pup was given a name: Tiger Tiberius.

“My fiancée at the time named him ‘Tiger’ because of his stripes, and I added on the name ‘Tiberius’ because of ‘Star Trek,’” Rodriguez told Patch.

Tiberius is the middle name of “Star Trek’s” Capt. James Kirk.

The accident

“I was rooming on Austin Street, and there are three stop signs there, and people are notorious for just eating the signs,” Rodriguez said. “I want to put a camera there and just record all the people who just don’t stop for the stop signs.”

At Austin Street and 76th Road, where Rodriguez said he used to live, there’s a crosswalk that connects to a playground. Parents are often seen pushing strollers across the street, but “people just don’t stop” because they’re racing toward Queens Boulevard, he said.

Rodriguez said he’s petitioned for speed bumps to no avail.

On the day of Tiger’s accident, a squirrel caught Tiger’s eye just as a car rounded the corner onto Rodriguez’s block.

“I was holding Tiger’s leash with one hand and carrying boxes in the other. Tiger got loose and went after the squirrel to cross the street,” Rodriguez said.

“Before my boxes hit the floor, Tiger was already hit, and this dude just kept on going.”

The pricelessness of friendship

A dog trainer, Rodriguez told Patch that he taught Tiger agility exercises and continued to practice with the pit mix until the accident.

“I like to show Tiger off because he’s a smart dog,” Rodriguez said. “A lot of people have this notion that this type of breed snaps, but it’s all about how you raise them.”

But the accident has damaged Tiger’s knees, according to Rodriguez, who took the dog to Empire Animal Clinic in Maspeth for X-rays some time after the accident.

For the procedure that Tiger needs, Rodriguez said it’s going to take about $6,000. His GoFundMe page asks for just half that amount. The cost of, and need for, the operation, could not be independently verified by Patch.

“I didn’t want to ask people for money that I didn’t have, so I’ve been doing overtime [with work],” he told Patch, adding that one of his friends pushed him to create the fundraiser.

The procedure

Rodriguez said that Tiger’s X-rays present two possibilities: The injured canine will need surgery on his meniscus disc, or he will need his ligaments repaired.

A third option, which Rodriguez is opposed to, would be to cut open Tiger’s knees and place bolts where damage has been done.

Rodriguez has found an animal hospital in upstate New York, called Countryside Veterinary Clinic, which he said is charging him about $4,000 less than local Queens clinics were estimating.

So far, $2,450 (out of $3,000) has been raised on Rodriguez’s GoFundMe page, and he told Patch that he has saved $800 in out-of-pocket funds.

But it has been two years since Tiger’s accident.

“I’m frustrated with myself for not paying attention, but I was more frustrated with the driver and the way that people just don’t stop for stop signs around here,” Rodriguez said.

“I’m just disappointed.”

Rodriguez said he hopes to be able to afford Tiger’s surgery by December 2017, and that Tiger’s story, if nothing else, will be a lesson to those who inattentively speed through the neighborhood.

Images courtesy of Robert Rodriguez