On a scorching August day in 2015, a young man was driving home from work and spotted a trash bag on the side of the road. When he noticed it moving, he pulled over and opened it up… and discovered there was a litter of eight puppies inside!
The puppies were taken to the Saving Grace and her Furry Friends rescue in Davie, Florida. Upon closer examination, they realized that two of the pups were missing a hind foot, and the open wounds were deeply infected. No one knows exactly how this happened, but it’s suspected that they were victims of intentional abuse.
While the most of the litter was okay, there was one pup who was in worse condition than the rest. He was the runt of the litter, and one of the two babies who’d lost a hind foot. He was the sickest of the bunch, and for a time, it was uncertain whether he’d even survive. But Stephanie Miller, the rescue’s founder, made sure that the tiny pup got all the extra care he needed.
When Sara Peaker-Angel and wife Gina saw the story of the abandoned puppies on the news, they wanted to help.”We knew we wanted to adopt one of the puppies that was missing a foot,” Sara told iHeartDogs.
The two scoured the rescue’s website for the puppies, with no luck. “We assumed that the news story caused so much interest that the whole litter must have been adopted immediately,” Sara said. “We gave up on the idea of getting one.”
Still wanting to rescue a dog, the couple continued to search online for the next two of months. Then, in October, they saw a Petfinder profile for a what looked like a Chocolate Lab mix — who was missing his back foot. He was at the Saving Grace and her Furry Friends rescue, so they knew it was one of the “trash bag puppies” that they’d heard about months before.
“We didn’t want to get our hopes up, but decided to email the rescue and see if the puppy was still available,” Sara told iHeartDogs. “We were told that he was available and they sent us an application to complete. Within a few days, we were driving to Davie to meet him.”
As it turned out, the sickest, tiniest pup had been kept at the rescue a little longer than his siblings in order to fully recover. What’s more, the rescue wanted to make sure he found the perfect home, and in this case, it was with Sara and Gina! The two decided to name him Jordy.
“After the mandatory home visit, Jordy came to live with us and now we can’t imagine life without him,” Sara said. “People tell us all the time what a wonderful thing we did by taking in a disabled dog, but we don’t even see him that way.”
Despite his missing back foot, the now 20-month-old Jordy knows how to get around.
“He won’t put it down on hard surfaces but he will run on all four legs in the grass,” Sara said. “When he’s at the dog park and meets someone new, it takes a while for them to realize [he’s missing a foot], as he runs so fast!”
“We may consider a prosthetic once he has stopped growing only because we feel the leg must get heavy for him,” Sara added. “He will often rest it on things, including other dogs!”
For now, this optimistic pup is just happy to be with a family who loves him. In addition to two loving humans, he has the company of two canine siblings: a senior Shih Tzhu and Hope, another rescue with an amazing story of her own!
“He’s the most loving, affectionate and goofy dog we’ve ever had,” Sara said of Jordy.
Thanks to Sara and Gina for giving Jordy a loving home and letting us share this wonderful story!
