Survivor Stories
"Mr. Bubbles"
One of our employees had gone through a automatic car wash on August 8, 2009 and noticed something in the corner of the car wash face down in a puddle of water, chemical & filth, a kitten! Her & her husband had to wait until the car wash was complete and ran to the kitten. "We thought he was gone for sure, but noticed bubbles being blown from his nose, This poor little guy was still breathing!" They had clothes in their vehicle which they used to wrap this 6mo old tabby kitten in. "He didn't hiss, meow or try to move." They took him home where they filled their bathtub with towels and plenty of water and wet food which he did not eat. "We checked on him every 30 minutes to an hour, his position had changed as well as his breathing. We didn't think he'd make it through the night and with every vet closed as well as the shelter- we didn't have any medication or fluids to give him. His gums where white as snow and you pull his skin up, it would stay up which is a sign of major dehydration."
The next day he was surrendered to the Macon County Humane Society where he also got a trip to the vet which determined that he was struck by a vehicle and he crawled to the car wash for safety. His pelvis was broken into 3 different pieces which prevented him to use the bathroom properly and cause slight internal bleeding. Shelter director, Kay Graham had mentioned this story to a friend which was overheard by others who claimed they saw the cat in the car wash on Friday 6, 2009. They "thought he was resting" So the actual amount of time he spent in the car wash is still unknown.
He got the proper medication to boost his health right back up along with numerous baths due to being soaked in car wash chemical and his own filth for days. He now gets physical rehabilitation where he gets to walk around in a big room and practice walking up & down stairs but, He rather lay around and sleep all day.
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"River"
September 2008 The Macon County Humane Society members said they are hoping the community will come together to assist in helping a five-month-old puppy found badly injured and floating in the river. A man was fishing The Little Tennessee on Sunday near the Iotla Bridge when he saw a black object fly through the air after being flung from the bridge. Wading out into the river he discovered that it was a puppy with a badly injured hip that had been thrown into the water. Today we still do not know who is responsible of throwing her from the bridge. The female puppy is possibly a cocker/lab mixed and is known only as the “bridge puppy,” though volunteers at the shelter have taken to calling her “River.” She never whimpered at all, just tried to wag her tail and lick everybody. She was just really sweet even though she was badly hurt. We took her to Rabun Animal Hospital in Rabun Gap, GA where they were able to perform surgery on the shattered hip. The procedure netted a medical bill around $650.
Today, River is now with a loving family with other animals to run and play with & comes by to visit us!!
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"Willie"
Last year, Willie the dog was a puppy here in Franklin that was run over by a car, and then while laying there hurt, the car tried to run him over again. But a good Samaritan came to his rescue and moved him out of harm’s way and brought him to the Macon County Humane Society (MCHS). We found he needed a $1,000 operation to remove his front leg and lots of rehabilitation which we did not have the resources to do. So we, MCHS got Best Friends Animal Sanctuary involved and they agreed to take Willie if the shelter could get him there.When the story got out, we received generous donations to fly him there. When he got there, he got the operation he needed and it was a great success. When he arrived, The National Geographic Channel was filming their special series “Dog Town” at Best Friends and after hearing about Willie, decided to do one of the stories about him!!
He has since been adopted to a family out west to a family with kids.
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