Deputies Rescue Homeless Man's Dog Injured In VTA Accident
SAN MARTIN (CBS SF) -- A dog who lives on the streets of San Jose with his homeless owner was badly injured in an accident Monday night, but he is getting help from some deputies and almost 200 generous donors on the Internet.
"Charlie," a black-and-tan beagle mix, was seriously hurt after darting into the path of a VTA train.
On Tuesday, the dog was resting at an emergency animal clinic in Santa Clara County after the traumatic injury that nearly killed him and separated him from his homeless human companion.
"He's stable at this point," said Lisa Jenkins of Santa Clara County Animal Control. "He's on some pretty good meds for pain management right now, but he's looking like he's going to have a good prognosis."
Charlie was on a leash trailing his owner who was pushing his bike across the tracks in North San Jose when he was hit by a light rail train.
The man told transit patrol deputies he didn't see the train coming.
"He was able to get across the tracks and the train hit his bicycle and his dog," said Santa Clara Sheriffs Department Sgt. Dave Cobble.
The train hit Charlie at about 30 miles per hour. Charlie's owner took it hard.
"He was extremely upset, crying emotional," said Cobble. "He had a hard time dealing with the possibility that his dog was going to pass on."
But deputies and an ems crew found signs of life. The deputies took Charlie to this emergency animal clinic in San Martin.
They also started a GoFundMe campaign to pay for Charlie's medical expenses.
But the dog's owner hasn't been seen since the accident and quite possibly doesn't know that Charlie is alive.
"The owner relinquished the rights to the dog to the veterinary clinic, because he thought the dog would not make it because he did not have the funds to pay for it," explained Cobble. "That is why we started collecting money to help him out."
"The ideal outcome is for Charlie to be reunited with his owner who knows him loves him and by all accounts is committed to him," said Jenkins.
So the search is on for the owner Tuesday night. Deputies have contacted his mother and grandmother, who live in Oakland, but so far he has not been seen on the streets in the South Bay. Authorities are actively searching him out and hoping they can arrange a reunion with Charlie.
The GoFundMe page set up by deputies had already raised over $6,600 from nearly 200 donors in a mere 10 hours as of early Tuesday evening, a good $1,600 over the initial $5,000 goal.
