BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — 'Protect your pooch'. A message taking center stage again Thursday after a good Samaritan jumped into action just to save a Pit Bull pup who was found in the Chuck E. Cheese parking lot Wednesday.
23ABC caught up with the good Samaritan and the original dog owner Thursday. It all started after a picture was posted on social media.
"I saw on Facebook that there was a dog that had just been laying outside of a Chuck E. Cheese he had a lot of blood around him and looked pretty terrified," Bakersfield good Samaritan, Marueen Anne said.
Marueen Anne said she volunteers for the local non-profit dog rescue ,called Boxer's and Bullies, and she couldn't stand by and watch. So she took matters into her own hands, jumped into action and drove down to the Chuck E. Cheese on Ming Avenue in Southwest Bakersfield right away.
"Initially I was going to sit and wait with him for animal control to get there, but we realized we needed to get him out of there and get him to the vet. It looked very serious there was a lot of blood, he was cowered-over and shaking," Marueen Anne said.
Marueen said she wrapped the dog in a blanket and rushed him to the Bakersfield Veterinarian Hospital because she wasn't sure how the dog got injured.
Meanwhile the owner was unaware that her dog was in distress.
"So we left at 3 o'clock for a doctor's appointment, we were gone for two and half three hours and when we got back we saw the gate was open and he was gone. We are not sure if it was a gardener situation we haven't confirmed anything yet," dog owner, Caitilin Rose said.
Still, it is a nightmare for any dog mom.
"I had a heart attack I mean you don't expect it to happen, you're not really sure what the outcome is going to be," Rose said.
Rose said she began printing out hundreds of fliers with her dogs picture, canvassing her Westhaven neighborhood in Southwest Bakersfield for hours, knocking on doors in hopes of finding her dog Quinn.
However, she eventually called the emergency animal hospitals in the area and short time later she got the call.
"I answered and they said this is Bakersfield Veterinarian Hospital and my heart dropped!" Rose said.
According to Rose the the Bakersfield Veterinarian Hospital scanned Quinn and discovered he had a microchip inside of him with her address and phone number.
"I cried like hysterically, like the tears, I couldn't even speak. Like it took me a minute to compose myself," Rose said.
A digital dog tag making all of the difference
"That microchip...it possibly saved his life!" Rose said.
However, her dog's injuries were also now an unexpected cost after the holidays. The good Samaritan affiliated with the local non-profit dog rescue, Bakersfield Boxers and Bullies, stepped in again to help by paying for Quinn's medical costs.
"What I would like people to know is that we have rescues like Bakersfield Boxers and Bullies who are there to help the community, help our animals that need it and we do work like this all the time," Marueen Anne said.
If you would like to get your dog micro-chipped, the Bakersfield Police Department is holding a free microchip clinic for dogs living within the city limits of Bakersfield Saturday from 9 a.m. to Noon at The Park at Riverwalk in Northwest Bakersfield.
