An adorable French Bulldog was brutally attacked by an unleashed dog last week and nearly died, according to his owners and a GoFundMe campaign.
Private chef Taylor Wagner, of Jacksonville Beach, told The Citizen she was walking Dobby Feb. 13 at about 8:30 p.m. in her Johns Creek community when another dog suddenly pounced on the family’s 3-month-old French Bulldog, Dobby.
“It was dark and he was sniffing near some bushes and out nowhere there was this other animal. Next thing I know Dobby was whining super loud,” Taylor said. “I looked down and our puppy’s eyeball was hanging out of his head. It was horrific. It was like one of those moments you see in a horror movie.”
Taylor raced back to her home with Dobby in her arms. The family had only had the pup for two weeks and she frantically told her husband, Jacksonville Beach photographer Jason Wagner, what happened.
The couple jumped in their car with Dobby and two of their boys, 8 and 10, and headed for the ER.
In a GoFundMe post, Jason said the diminutive dog was bleeding profusely and nearly died en route. He was rushed into emergency surgery and had to have his damaged eye surgically removed.
“The vet was able to save Dobby,” Jason wrote. “But unfortunately his eye wasn’t salvageable and had to be removed and eyelid was sewn shut. Our family is in shock and medical bills are still rising.”
Taylor said that at the time of the attack, Dobby was wearing a cone after one of the family’s cats scratched his eye. “We think that cone saved his life by keeping his whole little head from being crushed,” she told The Citizen.
The couple suspects the assailant, a medium-sized, dark-haired dog, was a stray.
“It was traumatizing for everyone,” said Taylor of the couple’s kids, their other dog, Harley, and the family’s two cats.
The surgery was expensive and the couple spent the money intended for their next two mortgage payments on saving Dobby’s life.
“There wasn’t a thought not to do it but when we got home, we looked at each other and said, what are we going to do? We have kids, we have other animals we have to support, and we can’t lose our house,” she said.
The couple launched the GoFundMe, which has raised nearly $4,000 as of Sunday.
“Times are tough for everyone and we know that,” Taylor said through tears. “We feel pure relief and gratitude. We do the best we can when we see our community needing help, and this has come back ten-fold and proves that the people around us are just amazing humans.”
Jason posted videos of the traumatized pooch on his Instagram page, including one showing him giving Dobby his first bath since the incident.
“Finally able to wash off all the excess blood from the dog attack,” he wrote. “Thank you to everyone who has donated so far!”
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