Injured beagle rescued from cold
Lennon was recently rescued in Hanover Township after suffering a shattered leg.
Courtesy of Mark Dumbovich
Mark Dumbovich stands with animal control officer Gina Secreet, center, and his wife, Susan Dumbovich, after rescuing Lennon earlier this week.
Lennon was recently rescued in Hanover Township after suffering a shattered leg.
Courtesy of Washington Area Humane Society
Lennon awaits surgery for a leg injury he suffered after being hit by a car.
Lennon the beagle is getting by with a little help from friends.
The stray lemon beagle was first seen wandering around Hanover Township in December, according to Perkins Lane resident Mark Dumbovich. It wandered into his driveway a few times, but never got too close.
“It was a beautiful beagle,” he said. “It was really skinny; I kept trying to feed it. Any time I got close to it, it would just run into the woods again. If you saw him running to the woods, so scared like that, your heart would just break for him.”
Dumbovich said he posted about the dog on Facebook, looking for advice. More than 200 people responded trying to help the beagle, including Kym and Gina Secreet, officers with animal control.
“It just showed there’s a lot of humanity out there,” he said.
After a few weeks of not seeing the dog, Dumbovich said his neighbors told him they saw him get hit by a car.
“He survived it though,” Dumbovich said, noting that the dog turned up at his home again. “But now it was limping. Its back paw was off the ground, so I really got worried about it.”
Dumbovich called animal control Jan. 23, according to animal control officer Gina Secreet. They set up a trail camera, half a chicken as bait and a crate on Dumbovich’s property, where they were able to trap the dog Sunday night.
“He was very skinny,” Secreet said. “He was scared.”
Dumbovich said it felt so good to finally be able to bring the dog in from the cold.
“I was just so happy we got him,” he said. “I thought we were going to lose him out there. He was so docile. He was so relieved.”
Kelly Proudfit, executive director of Washington Area Humane Society, said they took in the dog, naming him Lennon. He wasn’t putting any weight on his hind leg, so they sent him for X-rays Monday, she said.
“He has a completely shattered leg,” Proudfit said. “He’s been in pain out in the cold, and he’s very scared. He’s a sweet little boy.”
On Feb. 9, Lennon will have the leg amputated, since there’s no way to repair the shattered leg, Proudfit said.
“Dogs do very well with an amputation,” Proudfit said. “They bounce back. He’ll be back on his feet very quickly.”
Gina said she couldn’t have been happier to finally trap Lennon, who’d been on the run all winter.
“It was so exciting. We were just jumping up and down,” Gina said.
“You’re saving their lives because the next day anything could have happened to him. He’s not going to be cold anymore or hungry anymore. He’s a really cute dog. He’s going to be very happy.”
Proudfit said a foster family has been lined up to care for Lennon after his surgery. They will have the first opportunity to adopt him, she said.
“He fought every minute for his life, and he deserves a good family,” Dumbovich said.