MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – A grey and white dog had been hit by a car when it was found on the side of Interstate 95 at Exit 10 in Miami-Dade County.
By its side was a brown dog, using its body to protect its injured brother.
Road rangers could barely even get to him.
“Whoever hit him did not stop, and then Grover, the brown one, just stayed by his side,” said Leslie Fernandez, with Interstate Partners for Animal Welfare.
Miami-Dade Animal Services arrived to pick up the hurt dog, named Zorro.
“The picture of them together on I-95 -- the fact that one was hurt and the other one wouldn’t leave him, and like I said, he had a huge open space, the dog could have gone anywhere, and he wasn’t going to leave his friend, just brought tears to my eyes,” said Fernandez, who felt compelled to save Zorro. “I went to the shelter without a plan, I just had to take this dog out.”
At that point, Grover had gotten lost in the mix after being picked up by a driver, but Fernandez was determined to reunite the brothers.
Dr. David Wise joined forces with Fernandez’s rescue group to devise a plan to save Zorro.
“To me, this is one of the most heartwarming stories I have ever seen in the 50 years I have been a veterinarian, because I have never seen one animal protect another one that was injured,” said Wise. “When Zorro came in, he had a fractured right elbow, a dislocated left hip and a deranged right knee, so three out of four legs did not work. He couldn’t walk, he couldn’t stand, he couldn’t do anything.”
The life-long surgeon said he had never seen a dog with three broken legs ever be able to walk again.
“All he could do is lay on the floor and wag his tail,” said Wise. “And I said, ‘Whoah, we are not putting this dog to sleep, I don’t care what happens.’ Because he’s sitting there in that kind of shape, wagging his tail, so happy to be alive. I said, ‘We’ve got to help this dog.’”
And while the team at VCA Knowles Central Animal Hospital was preparing for months and months of surgeries and rehab for Zorro, Fernandez had tracked down Grover in Broward County.
When the canine brothers met again for the first time, five days after the highway accident, Zorro could not walk, but he crawled over to his brother.
With more than half a dozen surgeries and over $15,000, the vet techs patiently worked with Zorro.
“When you see the pictures of him not being able to move and where he is now walking, it’s just, it’s just a miracle,” said Fernandez.
Added Wise: “When I first saw that, I had tears in my eyes, when I first saw him walk.”
Zorro beat all the odds stacked against him.
Both he and Grover remain in the facility, now a year later, and nobody has stepped up to adopt the dogs.
Fernandez won’t separate them.
“The love and loyalty that Grover has for Zorro is unmatched in many ways, so I just can’t,” she said.
And these dogs need a home.
They are big and strong, they need training, but the love they have to give is unconditional.
A year in those kennels is unfathomable and it’s taking a toll.
“Every option has fallen through for these dogs and I just, I have to believe, there has to be a home for them,” Fernandez said. “It’s such a special story and they fought so much to be together, to be alive, I’m just praying that home is out there.”
Anyone interested in adopting Zorro and Grover can reach out to interstatepaw@gmail.com or visit www.interstatepaw.com
