'It melted my heart the second I saw her': Buffalo firefighters rescue and adopt puppy hit by car
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BUFFALO N.Y. (WIVB) - After a "ruff" start, one puppy has found her forever home with Buffalo's bravest.
"I never thought she'd fall right in my lap. She's perfect for me," said Buffalo firefighter Anthony Pulvino of Engine 19.
On April 5, two high school students saw the puppy get hit by a car near Forest Avenue and Grant Street. The students picked her up and brought her to Engine 19 for help.
"They were on roller skates and they said we just saw a dog get hit by a car, what can you do? We're trained to deal with human patients. Every once in a while something like this happens," said Buffalo firefighter Trevor Dugan, who was at the fire hall that day.
"I'm not even a dog person really but it melted my heart the second I saw her. She was just that cute," Dugan said.
The puppy was in bad shape and had an injury on her back leg. The firefighters put their training to use.
"It was amazing to see how they formulated a plan and we're going to help this puppy," said Lt. David Kazmierczak.
The puppy was taken to an emergency vet where they treated her wounds and amputated her back leg. After a few weeks, the puppy was ready to be adopted.
"She's just so cute," Pulvino said. "She's not going to a shelter. One of us is taking her."
Pulvino ended up adopting her.
"We're here for the community, our job is to help people. That's why I signed up for the job, to help people, and animals. I love animals too," he said.
"It was almost like fate. It just happened to be that way. He was thinking about getting a dog and before he could even look to see if anyone is fostering one, where can I adopt one? Literally on our doorstep, we rescue one," Dugan said.
That same night firefighters battled a fire on Auburn Street. This gave them inspiration for what to name her.
"I was talking to my wife and she said 'Didn't you also have a fire on Auburn? That's a cute name, right? Little Auburn,'" Dugan said. "She just looked like an Auburn from that moment on. It couldn't be anything else."
Auburn proved she's a fighter too. It's thanks to the firefighters at Engine 19 that she's able to get back on her paws.
"She's going to be part of the family now and we know it started with us," Dugan said. "It started with us taking her in and instead of hoping everything went ok, we know everything went ok."
"In any firehouse in the city, the men and women, 24/7 365, that's just what we do. We love serving the citizens of Buffalo... and pets," Kazmierczak said.
Sarah Minkewicz is an Emmy-nominated reporter and Buffalo native who has been a part of the News 4 team since 2019. Follow Sarah on Twitter @SarahMinkewicz and click here to see more of her work.