Animal rescue: Karl’s adoption story

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - All pet adoptions through our local animal advocacy groups help save an animal’s life.

But some of those rescues stand out - like when a Savannah couple took Karl from the side of a busy highway right into their family.

Pam Peterson loves animals too much to leave one in danger.

“My wife and I were in the car on our way home, and we were driving down the highway and saw something on the shoulder of the road. As we passed, we saw that it was a dog and we were worried it had been hit by a car,” Peterson said.

Instead, Karl was hit with incredible luck when Peterson and her wife stopped to check on him.

“We thought maybe they would be skittish or run. But they just lit up when they saw us and I think they were excited to finally have some help and followed us back and got right in the car.”

That was a year ago - and Karl has settled into a pretty comfortable life in Savannah as part of an ever-expanding animal family.

“He has three other dogs in his family. We have a mini pig that isn’t so mini anymore. And then we have chickens and a cat.”

The fish are Karl’s pets. Or at least he thinks so.

“We do have a little farm back here. It’s been amazing, he fit right in. He’s a very relaxed dog and he likes our other pets and he just kind of fit right in, so it’s been great.”

One Love Animal Rescue helped Karl go from the side of the road to the middle of a home.

That’s who Peterson contacted after she found Karl and another dog in I-16 and she agreed to foster both.

“The hound dog, Virginia Slim, was adopted right away. She has an amazing adopted mom who keeps us updated. But Karl stayed with us, he had to go through heartworm treatment and the longer he was with us through that treatment, he just stole our heart. So, we kept him.”

Peterson has also kept active with One Love - fostering, volunteering and helping plan events.

“I’m a big animal advocate, big animal lover, and actually, I’m surprised I wasn’t more involved in rescue. I really credit Karl for getting us involved with the rescue community in Savannah. Once we connected with One Love, we met some incredible people giving their free time, fostering, volunteering and that really pulled us into the rescue community here and we’ve met some incredible people.”

And one more incredible pet.

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