Behind this smile, beats the heart of a BAMF
They may look small and dainty, but Sophie the Bichon Frisé proved that these dogs are powerful survivors. It is tempting to focus on the colossal failure of the human in this story, to condemn him as a fool at best or a monster at worst, to wax legalistic about how he should go to jail or never own a dog again, and so forth. I’m sure plenty of people will cover that ground, so I want to focus on Sophie, whom I shall dub the Wonderpup.
A dog that was dragged accidentally behind a truck by its owner for about a mile Sunday will recover from its injuries, officials said.
David Bolduc said that after walking Sophie, a small bichon-frisé, outside his Water Street residence, he slipped the leash over the tow hitch of his vehicle while he did a couple of tasks in his garage. When his wife called him to invite him for lunch at McDonald’s on Kennedy Memorial Drive, he got into his truck and headed off to meet her, without remembering where Sophie was.
“I just forgot about it,” a distraught Bolduc said Tuesday.
According to a report filed by Chris Martinez, animal control officer, the dog was dragged for nearly a mile before the leash came off of the tow hitch near KMD Florist and Gifts.
A little farther up the road, another motorist alerted Bolduc to what had happened, and he rushed back to recover Sophie, who was on her feet on the sidewalk, alongside the road.
The dog suffered injuries that were significant but not life-threatening, including the total loss of patches of skin on an area from its abdomen running to the chest, and on the knuckles of its front paws. The pads of all four paws also suffered injuries.
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“I would like to commend the animal control officer for doing a fine job,” Bolduc said. “He got a hold of the veterinarian and made him open up for me.”
Sophie was admitted to the Kennebec Veterinary Services in Oakland, where Dr. Paul Smith sedated her and treated her injuries.
She remained in the veterinarian’s care until Tuesday, Bolduc said, and was responding positively to antibiotics.
Bravo to Sophie for being a seriously tough cookie. Bravo also to Dr. Paul Smith, owner of Kennebec Veterinary Services, for being available on a Sunday to treat Sophie.
It should go without saying that a dog is not like a Big Gulp that you might accidentally leave on the roof of your car. Sophie should not have had to go through that ordeal to prove how incredible she is. We can’t know what was going through Sophie’s mind, but I suspect she wanted to follow her human and tried to keep up with the truck–if she had fought the leash, her injuries might have been far, far worse. Dogs have a way of reminding us of their enduring, determined love. It’s up to us to remind our fellow humans, and ourselves, that we bear the burden of being worthy of that love.
Photo credit: ‘AG Cody’ by Rocktendo (Own work) [CC-BY-3.0], via Wikimedia Commons.
