Kermit the Dog
Kermit the Dog came into our lives on June 9, 2004. I (Gina) was driving like a mad woman down the 110 Freeway on the way to work at about 7:00 am. As I approached Dodger Stadium I saw something moving around in the left lane, my lane. I started to brake, thinking it was a large bird. I got closer and stopped I saw it was a little black and caramel colored dog. At seemingly the exact moment I stopped, the dog staggered into the left side of the lane and fell over. It was quite possibly the saddest thing I have ever seen.
For those of you have not had the pleasure of driving down the 110 Freeway, there is essentially no shoulder. So I just stopped my car in the left lane of traffic, put on my flashers and walked around the front of the car to check on the dog. The dog had clearly been hit by a car and was sad shape. He looked near death and I wasn’t about to leave him out on the freeway to get hit by a car again or die slowly. So I did the responsible thing and called animal control. They said that they would send someone out. So I waited, cars honked at me, and I waited some more. I thought about the possibility of someone running into the back of my car and I waited some more. I called Jeff and told him of our plight. While speaking to Jeff the dog began to open his eyes and move a bit more as if he was going to try and get up. I knew that would be a bad idea and he looked so scared so I took off my coat and tucked it around him. I waited some more and still no sign of help. A tow truck drive stopped to see if I needed a tow. I told him my story and he started to walk away, but then I said. “Wait! There is something you can help me with. You can help me put this dog in my car”. He looked surprised and replied, “You want this dog in your car?” I said “Yes” and we sped off to the emergency vet in Pasadena, about 20 minutes away.
As we drove I spoke to the little dog the entire trip. I was concerned that he had died a couple of times when he closed his eyes, but I would loudly tell him to “Wake up doggie!”. I got the vet just before 8:00 am, which it turns out is when they close. Our vet (the one we use for the cats) didn’t open until 9:00 so I was in a bind. The emergency vet recommended a vet down the street, Foothill Veterinary Hospital, and we raced off to see them. They looked at him immediately and said that it didn’t look good. It was obvious he had some severe trauma. They took a full set of X-rays and lo and behold, he “only” had a few skull fractures. He was given IV fluids, pain medication, antibiotics, and steroids and slowly he recovered. We took him home on June 15th, named him Kermit, introduced him to the cats, and became a three-species, five mammal household.