TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) – The Humane Society of Tampa Bay brought some holiday cheer to a local family who made the heartbreaking decision to surrender their dog because they couldn’t pay for her care after the animal suffered a broken leg.
A Humane Society spokeswoman said the Rangel family made the gut-wrenching choice to surrender Joy after bringing the dog to several local animal hospitals. They turned to the shelter as a last resort.
“Her family was devastated and did not want to surrender her,” the shelter said on Facebook.
An X-Ray showed the dog’s leg was shattered beyond repair, and Joy would need to have it amputated to recover.
“In the spirit of Christmas, we amputated Joy’s leg today and called Joy’s family to come and pick her up at no cost,” the shelter said on Facebook.
The post included photos of the sweet reunion. Humane Society spokeswoman Maria Matlack said one of the men featured in the photo was emotional when he learned the shelter picked up the bill.
“No one has ever done anything like this for his family,” she recalled him saying.
“When the family came to our shelter to pick her up they were elated and were crying tears of happiness. It was truly a touching moment for all of us at the shelter,” Matlack said.
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