Janesville man saves injured stray dog's life

A lost and injured dog now shares a unique bond with a man from Janesville. Frankie the Beagle ran away from home Saturday morning. Frankie was injured and desperate for help, and Dave Keller came to the rescue.

On Saturday afternoon at the intersection of Ellis Road and County Highway H, just west of Janesville, Keller was driving by and spotted Frankie.

“Here sits this little dog in a ditch on the side of the road, a little beagle,” said Keller.

Injured, alone, and bleeding from his head, Frankie sat in a daze.

“When I saw him, he had blood all over his head. And it came down the side of his face and it was dripping and every once in a while there would be a drop of blood here and he was dripping blood down off his chin,” said Keller.

“This wasn’t just a lost dog, he was injured, he needed help,” said Keller. “But he was in such sad shape there was no question that he was going home with me,”

Keller approached Frankie with caution.

“But then I bent down to pet him and I didn’t know how he was going to react when I touched him, but his little tail started wagging and it’s like, we are friends,” said Keller.

Keller took Frankie home and eventually got him to the ER veterinarian. Two days later, a foster family brought Frankie to the Humane Society of Southern Wisconsin in Janesville to see Keller again.

“He’s a good little dog, he really is,” said Chris Stanek. Stanek and his family watched over Frankie while he recovered from his injuries.

“I was prepared that he wasn’t going to make it because there was a pretty good gash on his head and he was looking pretty sad,” said Stanek.

The vet says Frankie suffered severe blunt trauma to the head and was probably hit by a car.

“I’m just so glad I found ya, yes I am,” Keller told Frankie. “I’m so glad to see ya up and around.

Thanks to Keller’s kind heart, Frankie survived.

“You know a lot of people would have kept driving,” said Stanek. “He stepped up when very few people would. I mean I’m sure he would have died. I’m positive he would have died, so he saved his life,”

“This little guy needed help and I just came upon him at the right time,” said Keller.

The humane society reunited Frankie with his owners. They say he wandered about 15 miles from home when he was found. Frankie has a few staples in his head, suffered a concussion and is pretty sore but he should be just fine.