On Saturday, February 19, Griffin and Abigail McGreevy were on their way to work at the local bakery they own together, Bae’s Bakery, when they spotted a homeless dog running down the interstate in early morning traffic. The McGreevy’s, along with other local animal lovers, were absolutely horrified at what they were witnessing and tried to corral the large dog to safety when the unthinkable happened. Scared and panicked, the dog leapt over the side of the interstate and fell off the 20 foot overpass before hitting the sidewalk below.
Onlookers watched in horror as the dog came flying towards the ground and upon impact with the sidewalk, the McGreevy’s quickly ran to see if the dog was still alive. To their amazement, the dog was injured, but had miraculously survived the fall.
After calling for help, the McGreevy’s and other animal lovers who witnessed the scene, stayed to soothe the dog until help arrived. Animal control officers from Louisville Metro Animal Services (LMAS) were soon on the scene and transported the dog back to LMAS where the dog was kept comfortable on pain medication while they waited to see if an owner could be found. When no one came to claim the injured animal, LMAS transported the dog to the Kentucky Humane Society so he could get the medical care he desperately needed.
The dog, whom we’ve named Ludwig van Beethoven (Ludwig for short), was in a lot of pain upon arriving at KHS and had a very difficult time walking. Being a St. Bernard mix weighing close to 100 pounds, we immediately sent Ludwig to a specialist to see what damage the 20 foot fall did to his poor body.
X-rays taken by the veterinary hospital revealed that Ludwig sustained a broken femur and three broken metacarpal bones that would require a specialized surgery to repair, and KHS’ minimum quote for the surgery was $7,000. While the surgery was costly, Ludwig had been through so much already that we wanted to see him walk away from this tragedy with all four of his legs intact.
We immediately scheduled for Ludwig to have the surgery he needed and he came through the procedure beautifully! While under sedation, the veterinary hospital took more x-rays of the three broken metacarpals in his foot and decided not to perform surgery on his foot. Instead, it will be splinted for a couple of months and he will have frequent check ups during that time to ensure the foot is healing on its own.
Ludwig is now recovering in a loving foster home with one of the veterinary technicians from the hospital where his surgery was performed. He will spend the next several weeks in foster care healing from this intensive surgery and healing from his injuries. Once he is healed and medically cleared, he will go up for adoption as long as his foster parents decide they don’t want to keep him for themselves. As always, our foster parents are given the first opportunity to adopt their foster pets as a thank you for taking care of the animal when they needed it most. Learn how to become a foster parent here!
If you would like to help Ludwig and other animals like him, please consider making a donation to the Kentucky Humane Society. As a local nonprofit organization, we rely on donations from kind people like you to heal sick and injured animals like Ludwig. Donations are gratefully accepted at www.kyhumane.org/donate.
We want to take a moment to thank everyone who helped bring this animal to safety, it was a true community effort. From Abigail and Griffin who witnessed the scene and provided photos of the rescue efforts, to the onlookers who stayed with Ludwig and soothed him until help arrived, to the incredible and heroic Animal Control Officers who transported Ludwig to safety and then to KHS. Ludwig is alive today because of your heroic efforts and we are so grateful for all of you. You’ve made our city proud!