The Good Samaritan

There are still some good people left in this world, and it fills my heart with joy when I witness an act of kindness. I want to share one such act with you.

Two ladies came in with a wounded dachshund they found abandoned in the road after it apparently had been hit by a car.  Sadly, other cars mostly likely drove by without a thought, but they pulled over and picked up this little dog. There wasn’t a tag or a collar and no houses nearby to find the owner.

Without an owner to claim him, they took responsibility for getting him help.

These cases are tough because we see so many of these. People find animals, bring them in and want to leave them. I wish we could take in every stray and every hurt animal for free, but that just isn’t feasible. 

Fortunately these women were willing to take responsibility for the patient, who we will call “Sam,” so I did an initial exam that revealed a puncture wound and swelling around the right shoulder. After discussion with the responsible party about further diagnostics to check for intestinal bleeding or fractures, they agreed to have some diagnostics done and keep Sam overnight. 

In the meantime, the good Samaritan called several different shelters and local animal rescuers in case Sam’s real owner was also trying to find him.

But, she agreed to take responsibility for the dog whether or not she found the owner, which is a rare find.

Sam ended up having three fractured ribs and it was causing a lot of pain. We kept Sam overnight and gave appropriate medication. He was doing much better the next day!

The next day, a man walked in and said he heard about the stray dog in our care. Low and behold, it was Sam’s owner! The dog had gone missing the night before, and they had searched most of the night to find him with no success.

Sam will be back with his owners next week! Big thanks to our “good Samaritan” who took time out of her busy day to help save the life of an animal and reunite a family. 

Luke 10:26

“ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ ”