Brody, a tiny, 6-week-old Lab mix who somehow managed to survive being shot with a BB gun 18 times by two loser teenagers, will soon be in a very loving forever home.
After Brody’s story gained international attention earlier this week, hundreds of adoption offers poured in to Project Safe Pet.
The “winners” of this sweet and very resilient puppy are Carla and her 10-year-old daughter, Kailey, of Rock Hill, S.C. Just last month, the family had to euthanize Kailey’s 15-year-old therapy dog, a Lab named Woodrow who Kailey had grown up with.
“She was with him when he was put to sleep. “Right there, laying beside him on the bed, holding him the whole time,” Carla, who asked that their last name not be used, told The Herald.
“He was her best friend. She looked forward to coming home every day. Every day, he was at the school bus stop.”
Alicia Schwartz, vice president of Project Safe Pet, told The Herald the selection process was difficult. The connection between Kailey and Brody was “really cool,” she said.
Brody was found by a maintenance worker who saw a group of about 20 teenagers playing with the puppy outside the Wildwood Springs Apartments complex in Rock Hill. When he saw the puppy was bleeding heavily, he notified the police, who were told that someone who lived in the complex had shot Brody and had also thrown a knife at the puppy.
The police took Brody to Ebenezer Animal Hospital, where he was treated for his wounds. Fortunately the thugs who shot Brody had really bad aim, and missed his major organs.
“There is no doubt here, this is one of the worst acts I’ve ever seen and it’s hard to think that someone could be capable of doing something to an animal this young and defenseless,” Dr. Jay Hreiz told WSOC.
Brody is too young to have the 18 BBs surgically removed. Since they’re not lodged near any vital organs, they may stay in Brody’s body for the rest of his life.
“He’s really young, so he has a remarkable ability to heal at his age,” Hreiz told WSOC. “Brody may be able to live a healthy, normal life with all those BBs in him.”
Brody and his littermates had been given away by someone in a Wal-mart parking lot, The Herald reports.
Two arrests were made Tuesday in connection with the shooting. De’Monte Ty’Juan Douglas, 17, and an unidentified 14-year-old are facing animal cruelty charges. As of Tuesday afternoon, Douglas remained without bond in the Rock City jail, the News & Observer reported, while the other loser was released to one of his parents pending a court appearance.
Animal cruelty is a felony in South Carolina. If found guilty, Brody’s two torturers face up to five years in prison.
Despite everything his poor young pup went through, Brody is “so trusting of people, which amazes me,” Carla told The Herald. “You would think he would be fearful of people or younger kids. It was amazing how he took to the kids.”
Kailey told her mom that when she looks in Brody’s eyes, she sees her beloved Woodrow.
“I see the same eyes,” she said. “I feel like he sent him to me.”
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