Passerby Spots Dog Bleeding from Head in Ditch. Knows He Can't Just Leave Him To Die
Our loyal dogs stick with their humans through thick and thin. But sometimes, dogs and their owners get separated.
So it’s encouraging to know that the world is full of unassuming good Samaritans. Meet Dave Keller, for example.
This Janesville, Wisconsin, resident was out for a Saturday drive near a local intersection when he noticed something concerning from the corner of his eye.
“Here sits this little dog in a ditch on the side of the road, a little beagle,” Keller told WMTV reporter Tim Elliot. It turns out the pup was alone, dazed and badly injured.
The hurting beagle actually had a horrible gash along the side of his noggin, and there was nobody else around to help him.
“When I saw him, he had blood all over his head,” Keller said. “And it came down the side of his face and it was dripping, and every once in a while there would be a drop of blood here and he was dripping blood down off his chin.”
Keller instantly realized this hound desperately needed help. “He was in such sad shape, there was no question that he was going home with me,” he said.
But Keller was also wise enough to approach the wounded pooch very carefully. He would later learn that the beagle’s name was Frankie.
Keller guessed correctly that the dog likely belonged to someone, but at the time there wasn’t another soul in sight. So the concerned gentleman gently bent down to lift Frankie into his arms, determined to give this pup all the attention he needed.
“I didn’t know how he was going to react when I touched him, but his little tail started wagging and it’s like, we are friends,” Keller said.
Keller got Frankie cleaned up at home, then took him straight to an emergency veterinarian. The Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin matched Frankie with a foster family who could give the pooch plenty of tender loving care while he recuperated.
Chris Stanek and his family agreed to foster Frankie. The vet informed Keller and Stanek that Frankie had likely been struck by a car, resulting in severe blunt trauma to the head.
Stanek told WMTV that the canine’s wound was so bad, he “was prepared that he wasn’t going to make it.” But all that love and concern seemed to bring out Frankie’s fighting spirit, and he ultimately survived.
Several days after Frankie’s trip to the vet, Stanek brought this lucky pup back to Janesville, Wisconsin, for a visit with his kindly benefactor. “I’m just so glad I found ya, yes I am,” Keller told Frankie. “I’m so glad to see ya up and around.”
Even better, the humane society eventually found Frankie’s owners so they could be reunited with their pooch. It appears the dog wandered nearly 15 miles from home before Keller discovered him.
A subsequent investigation by the Rock County Sheriff’s Office determined that Frankie’s family did not have any involvement in his injury.
“This little guy needed help, and I just came upon him at the right time,” Keller modestly explained.
“You know a lot of people would have kept driving,” Stanek said of Keller’s caring and quick-thinking intervention. “He stepped up when very few people would. I mean I’m sure (Frankie) would have died. I’m positive he would have died, so he saved his life.”
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