A 6-year-old white Poodle from Massachusetts is being called a lucky dog this morning after she narrowly avoided being run over and then survived an 11-mile ride stuck inside the front bumper and grille of a Toyota sedan.
Inadvertently stowed away in the car’s grill, Suzie the Poodle managed to make it through a harrowing journey across state lines, crossing from Massachusetts and into Rhode Island at speeds of up to 50 miles per hour.
According to the Taunton Daily Gazette, on the afternoon of September 20, an unnamed driver was heading down Route 44 near Segregansett Country Club in Taunton, Mass., when he saw a flash of white dart into the road. As he hit the brakes, the driver saw that it was a small dog, a white Poodle, running across Route 44.
He couldn’t see the little white pooch anywhere, so he’d assumed that she had made it to the other side of the road. The driver continued on his trip into Rhode Island, completely unaware of what was going to happen next.
When the driver stopped at a stoplight in East Providence, R.I., onlookers in other cars waved frantically, pointing at the front of his car. He stepped out of the vehicle to check and saw, with a sinking feeling, that the little white Poodle he’d avoiding hitting was wedged in the grille of the Toyota sedan—frightened, but thankfully alive.
He couldn’t wiggle the little dog from the grille of the vehicle but was unable to. So very carefully, the driver made the short trip to the East Providence Police Department for help.
East Providence Animal Control Supervisor William Muggle explains that the driver felt absolutely terrible when he’d discovered Suzie wedged inside the front of his car. “He did everything he could,” Muggle said. “He did the right thing. He tried to avoid hitting the dog and responded to the East Providence Police Station when he realized what he did. He took the right action.”
Officers and animal control staff jumped in and rescued the scared pup from the front of the Toyota. “They pulled the dog from the grille and it was still holding on for dear life,” Muggle described. The rescue personnel couldn’t believe that the Poodle managed to survive her ordeal. “It was a lucky dog,” Muggle added of Suzie.
Suzie was transported to the East Bay Animal Hospital, where veterinarians were pleased to report that the Poodle had only suffered a minor concussion and had lost a tooth. She hadn’t even broken any bones during her 11-mile journey. That her injuries weren’t much more severe was surprising, says Muggle: “It’s a very unique situation. I’ve never heard of anything like it.”
As Suzie recovered, Muggle tried to find her owners. Animal control staff was able to scan Suzie’s microchip, but unfortunately her owners neglected to register their names or contact information to the device.
So Muggle took to the press to try and get the word out about Suzie, hoping that her owners would come forward and claim her. Thankfully, it worked. Suzie’s very relieved owners spotted their missing dog on TV.
“They were very excited having their dog back,” Muggle told the Boston Herald this morning. Muggle declined to reveal the identities of the Poodle’s owners.
“It was the help of the media that got the dog home,” Muggle said. “That’s the reason we reached out. This is a real happy ending.”
Sources: TauntonGazette.com, BostonHerald.com
