Anonymous call saves puppy’s life in Vermilion County
DANVILLE, Ill. (WCIA) — A puppy is alive thanks to a phone call from a stranger in Central Illinois. Now, he’s on the road to recovery.
The dog was found in Tilton in pretty rough shape. That’s when the Vermilion County Animal Control stepped in to save him. Officials say he would not have lived if a certain complaint wasn’t lodged.
Time was running out for 3-month-old Frankie. The situation could have turned deadly. But thankfully, someone picked up the phone.
“An anonymous person called. They, like I said, stated that there was a short cable, an embedded collar, and that’s really all we needed to go out there and check it out,” said Animal Control Officer Lauryn Elliott.
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Elliott said Frankie was found with a small collar deeply embedded in his neck and maggots covering his sores.
“Honestly, it looked like they had probably put one on him when he was eight weeks old and never changed it,” she said. “Yeah, it was at least an inch with overgrowth of skin plus inflammation from it becoming so infected from just being embedded for so long.”
After removing him from the backyard, Frankie was off to the animal hospital, where he would need the entire collar — under his skin — surgically removed. The aftermath included drainage tubes, stitches around his neck, and lots of dead tissue removed resulting in scarring.
“Thankfully, we found it at a good time and really, other than the look of it, he’s healing properly,” Elliott said. “And yeah, really, it’s just going to be keeping it clean and preventing any infection from occurring any more than it has, and just starting over for him.”
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Frankie will be at a foster home for the foreseeable future. Elliott said that one anonymous call saved this puppy’s life.
“Really just having clear, concise detail of what was going on at the situation was really what helped save his life,” Elliott said.
She said the department will be moving forward with charges. Officials were unable to disclose any information about the owner at this time.
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