FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Fox 4 is introducing you to two dogs, both hit by cars and left with broken femurs and other injuries to fend for themselves.
The two dogs were saved from a shelter in South Florida.
"We always give them a new name for a new start," Kellum said.
One dog is an 80-pound bull-dog mix named Ham Bone, or Hammy. He was saved at the start of the 2020.
"He's just got sad eyes," Samantha Kellum of Love is Fur Ever Dog Rescue said. "He is just a lonely kind of dog. You can see his hipbones, so hes going to need some love."
His rescuers say he was hit by a car.
"He had a fractured femur. It was in three bone fragments," Kellum said. "Nobody came forward for him at Miami Dade. He was there for a couple days."
And Kellum said it's clear someone owned Hambone because he came in wearing a collar, and had marks around his neck, indicating he had been wearing it for a long time.
Days later, Love is Fur Ever brought in a limping pure bred English Bull Dog they've named Hank the Tank. He was pulled from the same shelter, with the same problem.
"He was hit by a car," Kellum said. "He's got the road rash up at the front. You can see some of it on his shoulder."
His owners never came for him, either. Kellum said because English Bull Dogs are highly sought after, she believes Hank did have an owner before he was found.
Both dogs had to walk on three legs when they were rescued. They had upper respiratory infections. They were in pain. So Love is Fur Ever took them in, saved them,
and changed their lives. Kellum said rescuing these dogs from the high-kill shelter was dire.
"Ortho cases, broken legs, Miami likes to amputate," she said. "Whenever we pulled one, then three days from then, they were going to amputate the leg. Already had it on the schedule."
She said they knew their Veterinarian, Dr. Thomas Jackson, or TJ, could save them. Ham Bone had his femur surgery first, and then Hank, whose femur was shattered.
"TJ said it was going to take a couple plates, a lot of screws, and another plate," Kellum said.
Kellum said given everything Hank and Hammy have been through, it's amazing how sweet they are. And soon, they'll be ready for their forever families. Thee rescue has spent nearly $20,000 on the two dogs, and when I asked the Founder of Love is Fur Ever Dog Rescue why they do it, she said there was no other option.
"They all have a purpose, and they all hold a very special place in all of our hearts, so why not give them a second chance?” Victoria Frazier said.
If you want to be part of that second chance and make either of these dogs your own, or if you want more information on the rescue, click here.
