Lost Lincoln Park dog with leg sore wanders into right place

LINCOLN PARK, Mich. (WJBK) - At first, Feed Rite didn't realize what was going on. It took a while to realize the dog was there by himself, and has just casually wandered in. 

But then they noticed a large sore on his leg. (We want to warn you some images of the dog's injury may be upsetting.)

The leg wound for 13-year old Boomer is no doubt painful, while for owner Pamela Smith, it is tough to see her dog like that.
 
"All of a sudden it appeared one day," Smith says. "We took him to the doctor and they weren't sure what it was or where it was from."

Smith has kept it cleaned and bandaged. Even though Boomer chewed through the bandages, she won't let up.

"It's like my kid," Smith says.

But the surgery to take care of the Labrador retriever's leg costs $1,000. As luck would have it, her senior dog must have had some wise animal intuition Tuesday. He got loose and wandered a few blocks away to the pet store Feed Rite.

"It's not an everyday occurrence when a dog walks through the front door," says employee Rory Flynn.

Eventually, Flynn and his colleagues noticed Boomer didn't have an owner with him. They called 313 K9 and Kitty Rescue. While the rescue searched for Boomer's owner, Pamela was also looking for him.

It set in motion a sequence of events that eventually got Boomer's case recognized by the community, and money is now being raised to help Smith pay for his much-needed surgery.  

"It is a blessing in disguise," she says. "I was pretty frantic for two hours."

"It's like it was meant to be," Flynn adds.

313 K9 and Kitty Rescue has worked out a way to help. If you'd like to donate, you can do so online here.