One heart-winning young pit bull will soon meet with the Oakland firefighters who saved his life. Remy, as the dog’s rescuers named him, was the victim of a shooting here in Oakland nearly three months ago. Firefighters responding to the call of “shots fired” that evening on May 7, 2009 arrived on the scene fully expecting to find a human in need . . . but were hard-pressed to find any victim at all. That is, until a careful search of the Oakland address led firefighter Ryan Minnagen to a black-and-white pit bull puppy suffering from multiple gunshot wounds.
Firefighters on the scene rushed the injured dog onto their fire truck and to a local emergency veterinary clinic. As luck would have it, the team members that day were all dog lovers, firefighter Dwight Garcia explained; no one hesitated in getting the dog the quickest treatment possible.
The puppy won over the veterinary clinic staff as quickly as he had the firefighters. Everyone was pulling for the pup‘s survival despite the fact that Remy had multiple gunshot wounds, including his front leg, pelvis, and back. Vet staff even shared nights fostering little Remy while he stabilized, and everyone’s efforts paid off: He was eventually ready for transfer to Oakland Animal Services, where he has been since May 27th, enough time to once again became a favorite of staff and volunteers alike.
Despite all of the effort behind Remy’s recovery since the shooting, the pup isn’t totally in the clear. One of the bullets that struck Remy’s legs damaged a growth plate in his front leg, causing that bone to stop growing even as the others around it continued. The result is that one of Remy’s front legs has bowed significantly, and he will need surgery to correct the condition. Oakland Animal Shelter’s nonprofit foundation, Friends of Oakland Animal Services, has begun gathering donations to fund the surgery, which will be performed by a local veterinary specialist. Several local vets regularly perform such intricate procedures for Oakland Animal Shelter’s needy animals at a discounted cost.
With any luck–and Remy seems to have a lot of it–this affable little pit bull will soon be meeting his firefighter friends on a much happier occasion. Maybe his next ride in a fire engine will be just for fun.
Donations for Remy’s surgery and other animals like him can be made HERE or sent to Friends of the Oakland Animal Shelter, 1101 29th Ave. Oakland, CA 94601. Here are some photos of Remy today!
These gorgeous photos are courtesy of Sara Atkins Photography.
