Miami-Dade

Dog saved from plunge off Brickell bridge now has a following

 

mmadan@MiamiHerald.com

Brickell the “miracle dog” has a Facebook page and email address.

The 28-pound mixed terrier doesn’t look like she fell 30 feet from the Brickell bridge a week ago. The now-white and fluffy pooch can be seen frolicking with her tongue out.

David Bernstein, 37, saw the stray dog walking across the Brickell Avenue drawbridge as it began rising over the Miami River. He got out of his car and tried to save her, but it was too late.

So everyone thought.

Eighteen hours later, Brickell — who rocked a pale red sweater— was found on a puddle-filled concrete landing beneath the bridge — alive and unharmed but doused in oil and mud.

After a week of no one stepping forward as Brickell’s owner, Bernstein said he is making arrangements to keep her.

“I suspect she was homeless,” he said. “I’ve been flooded with emails and phone calls for people who want to adopt her, but no one who actually owned her.”

Damian Torres, a manager at Brickell Animal Hospital where the dog was first taken, said it’s plausible she lived on the streets considering her conditions.

“Brickell left with an ear infection, vaginal infection, fleas and skin condition,” Torres said. “All things that were not caused because of her fall.”

Now pictured on Facebook, she sports a new red dog tag, pink collar and blue leash.

Bernstein plans to continue posting articles, photos and emails he has received that tell of Brickell’s road to recovery. Her email address is brickellthemiracledog@gmail.com.

Because of Brickell’s “strange story,” Bernstein said, the Humane Society of Greater Miami has provided Brickell with food, treats and has even offered to spay Brickell for free.

“Her story gives people hope. She has a bed now, food, water,” he said. “I made a connection with this dog and there is no way I can leave her now.”

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