LAPD officers Jennifer Cohen, Cindy Herrera and Valerie Lancaster were on their way back to the Southeast Division station in Los Angeles on Jan. 10 when they spotted a Pit Bull-Shar Pei mix lying motionless on the sidewalk.
“We noticed that his ribs were sticking out, so we assumed that he was malnourished and needed some food and water,” they wrote on the Rescuing Philly Facebook page. “We drove to the corner taco stand to get a plateful of meat and a bottle of water to give to him. When we returned, he was in the same exact spot.”
When the dog tried to stand up to eat, he cried out in pain. The officers examined him and saw he had several scratches, as well as a very swollen leg. “When the public saw us attempting to help him, they notified us that he had been lying in the same spot for at least five hours. Five hours!!!” the officers wrote.
They took the dog to Advanced Veterinary Care Center, a nearby animal emergency hospital. As they drove there, the three officers decided to name him “Philly” in honor of their captain, Phillip Tingirides – “one of the best supervisors you could have,” they wrote.
The news from the vet was not good. Philly had been hit by a car. Two of his ribs were fractured and his leg was broken, requiring surgery. Philly was microchipped, so the officers went to his owners’ house and explained what had happened to their dog.
“The owner responded with ‘put him to sleep, we don’t want to fix him,’” the officers wrote on Facebook. “Excuse me! Repeat that! No way! No how! We had them sign over their rights to Philly on the spot. Here we are, Philly’s new foster parents.”
Cohen, Herrera and Lancaster started a ChipIn to collect donations to help cover Philly’s veterinary care expenses. As of today, more than $23,000 has been contributed – enough to cover Philly’s treatment.
“Philly underwent surgery to repair his left front leg, which was fractured at the elbow,” the officers wrote. “They implanted an artificial elbow that is being held together with screws and pins.” Philly also had to have large plastic pieces and other materials surgically removed after they were discovered in his stomach. In addition to all that, he has parasite and respiratory infections. But the officers wrote that the dog with the constantly wagging tail “is recovering and being a strong boy.”
On Saturday, Cohen told NBC 4 News, “We’re his foster mommies now, basically. We trade off every couple of days, so he’ll be in different homes. He’s great around kids, and we give him different environments so he is ready to go to his forever home.”
With so many stories in the news about police officers shooting family pets, especially Pit Bulls, it’s encouraging to know there are still compassionate heroes on the force like Cohen, Herrera and Lancaster. The three officers work with kids and their parents in the Southeast Division’s gang prevention/interventionJeopardy Program.
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