It started with a sound. In the Germantown neighborhood of Philadelphia, a passerby named Xav heard crying by the side of the road.
“As I got a little closer, I realized it was a dog,” Xav told 6abc. “It was just yelping, and it was in pain, and I immediately started praying.”
That’s when the neighbors stepped in. Jennifer Smith saw the post, grabbed a blanket and rushed over. “Really, what I saw was beyond horrifying,” she said. But when she reached for him, something amazing happened. “His tail just started to wag.”
She took him to a local vet. Then Colleen Bell of GoodBoy Dog Recovery saw the post and knew she could help. She took over his care and brought him to Pinnacle Veterinary Specialists, where he was placed in intensive care.
He was so thin that his body score was one out of nine, the lowest possible. But his rescuers saw something in him. “His eyes were so clear,” Colleen said. “So I just knew that he was going to fight.”
They named him Rocky.
And fight he did. Over the following days, Rocky began eating and drinking again. His care cost about $2,000 a day, but the community quickly stepped up to help pay for it. Thousands of people are now following his progress, and later reports say he has been gaining weight and strength.
Rocky still has a long road ahead. But thanks to a stranger who stopped, a neighbor with a blanket, and a whole community that cared, he has a real chance at the happy life he deserves.
Share Rocky’s story to cheer him on, and to thank everyone who refuses to look away.