Puppy shot repeatedly with BB gun gets new home

The puppy that was shot nearly 20 times with a BB gun and left for dead outside a Rock Hill apartment complex will soon have a new home.

Brody, a 6-week-old lab mix who was shot 18 times with a BB gun, allegedly by two teenagers, was adopted by a Rock Hill woman, Carla, and her 10-year-old daughter, Kailey. Carla asked that their last name not be reported due to the amount of publicity the story has received.

Theirs was chosen from hundreds of applications sent to Project Safe Pet since Monday, when Brody’s abuse was first reported. They learned they had been selected late Tuesday.

Carla said Kailey grew up with a lab named Woodrow. For Kailey, who suffers from anxiety disorders, Woodrow wasn’t just a pet – he was a friend, and Carla said the two were inseparable.

“He was her best friend,” Carla said. “She looked forward to coming home every day. Every day, he was at the school bus stop.”

Woodrow, who was 15 years old, had to be euthanized last month, Carla said. Kailey was devastated.

“She was with him when he was put to sleep,” she said. “Right there, laying beside him on the bed, holding him the whole time.”

Carla said that after putting in their application, they had the chance to meet Brody and spend time with him Tuesday, and the puppy was very playful with both her daughter and son.

“All that he’s been through, he’s so trusting of people, which amazes me,” Carla said. “You would think he would be fearful of people or younger kids. It was amazing how he took to the kids.”

Kailey couldn’t stop smiling when they got back in the car, Carla said.

“The first thing she says is, ‘When I look in his eyes, I see Woodrow,’” she recalled. “I see the same eyes. I feel like he sent him to me.”

Alicia Schwartz, vice president of Project Safe Pet, said Brody will remain in the hospital a few more days before he can go to his new home.

“It was hard,” Schwartz said about selecting the puppy’s new owners. “We thought the connection between the child and everything was really cool.”

The rescue agency has learned that Brody was part of a litter of puppies that was being given away in the parking lot of Walmart on Dave Lyle Boulevard, Schwartz said. So far, investigators have not been able to locate the original owner.

In the meantime, Brody’s new owners are getting ready for their latest family member, and Carla said Kailey plans to keep his name. His middle name, she said, will be Woodrow.

This story was originally published February 24, 2016 at 8:13 PM with the headline "Puppy shot repeatedly with BB gun gets new home."