Cyclist finds dog with broken leg on his route, gives the pup a ride back into town and to its forever home
Jarrett Little and his group of mountain bikers were enjoying a day of riding in the woods near Columbus, Ga., when they spotted a stray dog approaching them.
According to Little, the dog now known as “Columbo” was incredibly thin and looked like he had been hit by a car. “[He] had a lot of road rash and a broken leg,” Little told CBS News.
The cyclists shared some food and water with the emaciated dog and discussed how to get Columbo to a shelter or a vet.
Since they didn’t have a car and they didn’t want to leave the injured dog, Little lifted the pup onto to his back and started to ride his bike into town.
Once Little and Columbo arrived in town, they met a woman, Andrea Shaw, who was on a business trip.
“Right when we returned to my local bike shop to get him some more water and food, we instantly ran into Mrs. Andrea who was in town from Maine,” Little said.
According to Shaw, after the dog bled on her new shirt, she called her husband and said, “I’m saving this dog — he’s bleeding and broken and I’m not leaving him.” Her husband, Joel, replied, “OK. Is your hotel pet-friendly?”
“She paid for him to have his leg repaired with surgery and found an organization that could help get him back to Maine to live on her horse farm,” Little said.
Little believes that the whole experience was serendipitous — from the moment they stopped and saw the dog, to the chance meeting of running into Shaw just at the right time. “Had I been five minutes earlier or five minutes later, we wouldn’t have crossed paths with her,” Little said in a message to CBS News.
Columbo, or Bo for short, made it safely to Maine, where he has two other dog siblings, horse friends, a mom, a dad, and a human brother. Shaw documents his adventures on his own personal Facebook page.
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