LAPD Officers Save Pitbull, 'Philly,' After Owners Abandon Him (PHOTO, VIDEO)

Abandoned on a Los Angeles sidewalk for five hours after being hit by a car, a pitbull named Philly was near death when three LAPD officers found him. Noticing that his tail was still moving -- if only slightly -- the cops rushed the dog to the emergency room of a local animal hospital, hoping to save his life.

The pitbull also two broken ribs and a shattered leg.

According to KTTV Fox 11, the LAPD officers, who usually work in community relations, tried to revive the pitbull with water, but had little success.

After taking him to the Advanced Veterinary Care Center, where veterinarians found a radio-frequency ID tag embedded under the dog's skin, the officers tracked down the pitbull's owner. Unfortunately, the owners were not keen to pay the dog's hefty $10,000 medical bill.

Speaking to KTTV, LAPD officer Jennifer Cohen recalled that the owner said, in no uncertain terms: "We can't afford it. Put him down. We don't want him."

So the officers asked the owner to sign the dog over to them. Now, Philly -- named after the officers' sergeant -- has three moms.

"We couldn't let him go. We couldn't just walk away," officer Cindy Herrera told KTTV.

Cohen, Herrera and the third officer, Valerie Lancaster, adopted Philly and started a Facebook page to document his rescue and recovery. They also started a donation site through ChipIn to raise funds for the veterinarian bill.

The LAPD officers are not the only cops who have fallen for a rescue dog. In August, Baltimore City officer Dan Waskiewicz responded to a report of a "vicious dog," and fell in love with the pitbull he found. Though Waskiewicz initially transported the canine to a local shelter, he ultimately decided to give him a new home -- with him.

See more photos of Philly the pitbull on his Facebook page, Rescuing Philly.

(h/t MSN Now)

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/19/lapd-cops-rescue-pitbull-philly-abandoned_n_2505924.html

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