Shelter Puppy With Broken Leg Can't Stop Hugging Her Rescuer

Sometimes, a dog has been through so much in such a short time, she just falls into the arms of the first person who offers hope.

On Monday morning at a Brooklyn animal shelter, Marisa Grimshaw of Mr. Bones & Co. was that hope.

And a lonely, broken puppy named Buggy needed her like there was, literally, no tomorrow.

"As soon as they handed her to me, she was clinging to my shoulder," Grimshaw tells The Dodo.

Mr. Bones & Co.

Buggy burrowed into Grimshaw's shoulder "the furthest she could possibly get."

"She just wanted to be held and hugged," she adds.

Grimshaw was responding to an urgent email plea she and Elli Frank, founder and co-executive director of Mr. Bones & Co., received from Animal Care Centers of NYC. A puppy had been found and taken to the shelter with a badly broken leg.

When she saw the email, Grimshaw was reminded of her own dog.

Mr. Bones & Co.

"She was basically a baby version of my dog," she says. "So, of course, I was immediately obsessed with her. I was pretty adamant about us having to pull her."

When they met at the shelter, Buggy proved just as adamant about sticking with her.

On the car ride to the veterinary clinic, Buggy cried and moaned in pain - until she finally climbed up on her rescuer's lap.

"Maybe not the safest thing," Grimshaw says. "She stopped crying. I kind of just held her as I drove."

Mr. Bones & Co.

Buggy still has a long journey ahead of her. On Tuesday, she underwent surgery on the extreme break in her thighbone.

"She will have quite a bit of recovery," Grimshaw explains. "There will be plates and pins in her legs. And obviously, keeping a puppy from moving around will be difficult."

Mr. Bones & Co.

Grimshaw estimates Buggy will need at least six weeks to recover from surgery before she can find a home.

One of the vets who examined Buggy suggests the break may have been caused by a fall, or even being kicked, but no one can be sure since her history is unknown.

But she's young. Her leg, like her heart, will mend.

In the meantime, you can help Mr. Bones continue to give her the care she desperately needs by making a donation below.

Mr. Bones & Co. on CrowdRise