So many things had to go right, for a puppy named Galadriel to survive.
Concerned neighbors had to step up. Animal control officers had to take her away from her home. A rescue group had to find and pay for emergency medical care.
And Galadriel had to have incredible resiliency.
“When you see something where you have an innocent pup that just wants to be loved, and this brutality takes place, it’s disgusting,” Dr. Marcus Smith with Chattahoochee Animal Hospital says.
Clayton County Police say what Dr. Smith calls “disgusting” may be a criminal offense. Animal control investigators say Galadriel’s owner repeatedly beat the pit bull with a stick, in the backyard of their Morrow home. Investigators say the man told them he did, because she kept having accidents in the house.
Investigators say the beatings were so severe, neighbors heard them, and called 911 fearing for the dog’s safety.
An animal control officer found enough evidence to pull Galadriel out of the house. That’s how she ended up at Clayton County Animal Control Monday afternoon.
“She was in horrible shape,” Jennifer Naujokas with rescue group Angels Among Us says. “She couldn’t even stand; she could barely lift her head. She seemed very, just out of it.”
With money donated to the group, Angels Among Us paid for Galadriel to be seen at an emergency animal hospital that night. The x-rays were frightening. Doctors found broken bones in her face and jaw. Her ribs were fractured. And doctors realized her right hind leg had been broken at some point in the past, but had never healed.
“Unfortunately I think this pup has gone through this several times,” Dr. Smith says. “It was an old non-salvageable fracture that they had to end up amputating that back leg.”
Galadriel lost her leg Tuesday. By Friday, aside from being a little tired, she seemed to be getting used to her new life.
“Forgive and forget. That’s the way these guys operate,” Dr. Smith says. “There’s no doubt in my mind we’re going to make a great recovery. It’s going to be a lengthy one, and she’s going to have to adapt to being a three legged dog. But she will.”
Friday afternoon Angels Among Us placed Galadriel in a foster home. She will likely have to stay there for months, if police arrest her former owner. Once that case goes through the court system, she can be adopted out.
By: Chris Shaw, Fox 5 Atlanta
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