Dog Struck by Hit and Run Driver 'Will be Healthy Again'

Just more than a week after a car on Lacey Road struck Dunkin, a one-year-old yellow lab, he is safe at home with a cone on his head.

On March 15, Margaret Patterson’s son was playing outside with his friends. When a friend came into the Alpine Street home, Dunkin has squeezed through the entry and ran off.

The boys had tried to catch him but Dunkin kept running, all the way to Lacey Road where a small black vehicle hit him and continued to drive, Patterson said.

“The person kept going, leaving there 13 year old boys on the side of the road with the dog laying in the road,” she said. “What kind of person hits a dog and doesn’t stop?”

Patterson was not home at the time and arrived with the door open and her family missing. She knew something was wrong, saw police lights on Lacey Road and ran down her driveway.

When she arrived at the scene, a woman was on the ground with Dunkin. She was driving behind the car that struck Dunkin.

“The driver took off but she didn’t,” Patterson said. “She was so nice.”

The lady offered to drive the Patterson’s to an animal hospital, offered gas money and more. Without a name or contact information, Patterson has been on a mission to find the woman and thank her for her kindness ever since.

Dunkin was first brought to an animal hospital in Lakewood where he received a pain shot for more than $300. The veterinarian told the Patterson’s he would not be able to perform surgery on Dunkin.

The Patterson’s then brought him to Garden State Veterinary Specialists in Tinton Falls.

“The doctor came in and said the only option was for surgery,” Patterson said.

Dunkin had suffered four pelvic fractures and surgery was expensive. It cost $2,500 for Dunkin to stay in the intensive care unit and surgery was estimated at $5,500 to $7,000, money the Patterson’s didn’t have to spare.

“I don’t have that kind of money,” she said. “The only other option was to euthanize him and he’s only one. I couldn’t even imagine having to put him to sleep. It’s been awful. It’s traumatizing.”

The vet provided the family with an application to seek funding through the Rose's Fund, a foundation based in Avon by the Sea that helps families who cannot afford pet care.

The foundation committed to paying for the first night in the hospital, with minimal funding available because they had covered the costs of two other dogs earlier that morning.

When additional funding became available, the foundation guaranteed the full payment of Dunkin’s hospital bills, Patterson said, a total of $7,500.

“I’m trying to get the word out about Roses Fund,” Patterson said. “I want to pay it forward.”

Patterson is encouraging people to make donations to Rose's Fund in Dunkin’s name, to not only help the foundation pay for the lab’s care but to help other pets who need assistance in the future.

“I can’t thank the Fund enough. Without them, I would’ve lost my dog,” she said.

Rose's Fund is a small, non-profit organization made up entirely of volunteers. All donations go directly to the care of pets, Felicia Bernstein of Roses Fund said.

The Fund has helped more than 200 families since its inception nearly five years ago; $180,000 in donations has been made, Bernstein said.

Typically the Fund determines whom to assist based on prognosis and available money, she said.

“If we don’t have the money, we can’t give,” she said.

The Fund did not have all the money readily available to support Dunkin and will be on a payment plan moving forward. Roses Fund has developed relationships with many of the local vets.

“A bill this size really hurts and we want to keep helping other pets,” she said. “We do ask everyone to give back…This money then turns around to help somebody else.”

Dunkin was operated on March 18 when he was stabilized. He is now home resting, requiring around the clock care.

Patterson is hopeful he will make a full recovery, she said.

“This puppy is going to have a good life ahead of him,” Bernstein said. “He was healthy before and will be healthy again.”

Donations to Rose's Fund can be made online or mailed to Roses Fund for Animals, P.O. Box 24, Avon by the Sea, NJ 07717.

For more information on Rose's Fund, visit their website, call 877-505-4234 or email rosesfund@aol.com.