Injured dog left in box outside humane society
When Sonya Lawson's phone rang late Thursday night and she heard her husband's voice on the other end, she worried something might be wrong.
There was a problem. And it was unexpected.
"He called me and he goes, 'Babe, there's a puppy out here in a crate,'" Lawson said.
The puppy was sitting on the door step of the Clayton County Humane Society, which was closed and not set to reopen for another 36 hours. Lawson's husband just happened to walk by and see the puppy.
"Someone had just dropped the dog with a crate and a note," Lawson said.
The note stated, “Dog was hit by car. Found on side of road. Didn't know where to take him, but here. Please help him.”
"And I didn't want to leave the puppy out there to die. He was breathing really hard. You could tell he was in a lot of pain, so we brought him home."
But he was in so much pain; the Lawsons couldn't really help him.
"I just started crying over the phone, because it's heartbreaking," Taylor Boyd said.
The Lawsons called their friend, Boyd, and she began calling around to local pet rescues.
Within an hour, a volunteer with TLC Pet Rescue came and got the pup, Lawson and Boyd named "Little Rascal."
Overnight, vets at an animal hospital in Locust Grove worked on Little Rascal, but it hasn't been easy. Doctors suspect he has a severed spine and a fractured back.
Another rescue group, Angels Among Us, took him to a specialist late Friday afternoon, where he will need at least two surgeries.
"He's hurting, he's in a lot of pain," Lawson said. "They have him on a lot of medicine to keep him comfortable."
Angels Among Us, a volunteer group that relies on donations, said Little Rascal's medical costs will be about $5,000.