A good Samaritan used his previous experience as a law enforcement officer to save a puppy that was severely stabbed in Virginia.
Brad Chambers and his landscaping crew were sitting in lunchtime traffic in downtown Portsmouth on Tuesday when they spotted the dog.
"We saw someone on a moped trying to corral a puppy out of the street," said Chambers.
The puppy in distress made its way under Chambers' truck.
"When I looked under the car, it looked like a sweet puppy," said Chambers.
As he went to grab the pit bull mix and bring it to safety, he was stunned.
"All you could see is pouring of blood everywhere and puncture wounds," he explained. "I called out to my employees to get towels and get my trauma kit fast."
Chambers, a former police officer, had a trauma kit he says can be used for an active shooter situation in his work truck. He used it to stop the bleeding from the dog's jugular vein and carotid artery.
"She was doing the kind of breathing you do before dying, so I immediately put QuikClot on her neck," he said.
Fire and rescue crews in Portsmouth also responded to the dog in grave condition.
WTKR has learned that Portsmouth police are pursuing animal cruelty charges against 31-year-old Darrel Lollis. He was taken into custody near High Street on Tuesday.
"The crews got the puppy up onto a stretcher into the back of an ambulance," Chambers said.
The female dog, not even a year old, was rushed to a vet in Suffolk after undergoing surgeries that Chambers has paid out of pocket for.
"Not only does the dog deserve to live, everyone deserves the ability to contribute to a community effort," said Chambers.
He is now raising money to help save the dog that vet techs have named "Smoke."
"I am pretty emotionally invested in the dog, and I have the family to offer it and the compassion where it could live a fulfilling life," he said.
To donate to the dog's vet expenses, clickhere.
This story was originally published by Chelsea Donovan at WTKR.
