ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A sad update to a story Tampa Bay 28 reported on last week: one of the puppies who had been abandoned at a park passed away.
"It was all hands on deck, and we tried everything that we could,” said Jaime McKnight, the founder of Pawlicious Poochie Pet Rescue.
12 dogs were abandoned at Taylor Park in Largo, ten of which were puppies.
"Frosty was the one that came in 48 hours post-finding the other dogs in the bin,” said McKnight.
Tampa Bay 28 caught up with McKnight while at Skyway Animal Hospital in St. Pete, where the dogs are being treated.
All of the dogs had parvo.
“Frosty was the worst out of all of them,” said McKnight.
The team has worked around the clock to care for the dogs, but one of the puppies, Frosty, was critically ill.
"We came in for evening treatments and was carrying him around, talking to him like I usually do,” said McKnight. "We were doing diagnostics and all of that, and then he just took his last breaths and that was it, and he passed away in my arms.”
McKnight said they discovered Frosty had other injuries.
“His back leg was snapped in half, and he had a dislocated jaw, and then when we did the necropsy, we also confirmed that there was additional trauma because he had a huge hole in his small intestine with other areas that were damaged as well,” she said.
The remaining dogs are doing well.
“They’re doing amazing. They’re happy. They’re gaining weight,” she said. "It’s been amazing to see the transformation to be able to save that amount of dogs from such a deadly disease."
Despite the devastating loss, McKnight said they’re focused on getting justice.
“Somebody knows, and I think do the right thing and just turn in who did it,” said McKnight. "There’s a $5,000 reward for a tip leading to the arrest, and we need justice for Frosty and the other dogs."
Largo Police said they are still actively investigating and working to figure out who left the dogs at the park. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 727-587-6730 with reference case number: 25-011306.
Share Your Story with Mary
Mary O’Connell has a primary focus on education-related stories for Tampa Bay 28. But she also keeps an eye on public health concerns and the always-changing car insurance market. Reach out to Mary to share any of your questions or concerns.
.
Hillsborough County woman nearly loses $10k to elaborate sheriff's office phone scam
Sheri Amarillas was sitting in her car on a Tuesday morning, about to walk into an appointment after dropping her kids off at school, when she received a voicemail that would lead to an hour-and-a-half ordeal with sophisticated scammers.
