On Halloween, Maple the goldendoodle lay broken and muddy on the side of the road in Arkansas, her back legs shattered with no owner in sight.
By Thanksgiving, due to the help of veterinarians at Mississippi State University and the help of two strangers willing to sacrifice their wedding savings, she was walking again.
Dylan McCay found the 10-month-old puppy in October after seeing a Facebook post that afternoon that said she had been hit by a car around 9 a.m. Halloween morning.
“Once I saw the post, I just got some blankets and towels and started driving out there, hoping that I wouldn’t find her, that somebody else had already addressed the situation … but I found her,” he told The Dispatch on Friday.
Maple’s back legs were clearly broken, with the bones protruding from one. McCay and a few other good Samaritans started going door-to-door in the neighborhood, looking for an owner. But it was taking too long, and Maple was in pain, he said.
“So I was like, ‘We’re going to load her up in the car. We’ll address the rest of it later,’” McCay said. “I was really worried, considering how scared she was (and) with her being a stray dog. I didn’t know – will she growl at us? Will she bite us? But she was so sweet.”
He took Maple to Greenbrier Animal Hospital in Conway, Arkansas, calling his fiance Emily Roberts on the way. With no sign of Maple’s owner, the couple knew they would be on the hook covering her treatment.
But McCay and Roberts are big dog people. They already had one goldendoodle named Noodle and quickly connected with Maple after only a few hours, Roberts said.
“Once she was stabilized, we got a few estimates,” she said. “We kind of looked at each other like, ‘This is what we have to do.’ It was a pretty mutual understanding right away that we would use that money we had saved up for a wedding for her instead. She needed it, and it just felt like the right thing to do.”
But by the time Maple’s impromptu adoption had gone through, most of the vets in Conway and the surrounding area were closed, Roberts said. The vet at Greenbriar, Dr. Eric Schrand, who graduated from MSU in 2022, suggested the couple take the puppy to MSU given the severity of her injuries.
Despite the 330-mile, five-hour drive, the couple knew immediately they’d be taking that suggestion.
“We knew we had to go someplace good, so that she could have a good quality of life,” Roberts said.
Maple was checked in at MSU’s Animal Emergency and Referral Center, and Dr. Michael Jaffe, College of Veterinary Medicine Chief of Small Animal Surgery, and Dr. Weston Beamon, a second-year surgical resident, began planning her treatment.
When he called Jaffe, Schrand had suggested at least one of Maple’s legs may need to be amputated due to the threat of infection. But after taking another look, Jaffe felt optimistic about saving both of the dog’s legs.
“The surgeries went really, really well,” he told The Dispatch. “We were super happy with how the fractures came together. (We) repaired each leg in exactly the same fashion with a plate, screws and some pins.”
But that was only half the battle for Maple, who had to start aggressive physical therapy after her surgery.
“In fact, before she was even awake from anesthesia, we were already kind of working that leg to keep the muscles moving,” Jaffee said. “Gradually, the legs started to improve in terms of their mobility, and we didn’t have to sedate her for the rehab (anymore).”
Over the next three weeks, more than 30 people at the MSU Animal Health Center worked Maple’s case, from ER students to doctors to radiologists. It was a team effort that paid off, Jaffe said.
“People kind of talk about those of us who did the surgery, but it’s such a team effort in veterinary medicine,” he said. “There is no one person, and with (Maple) there really were at least 30 or more people who impacted this case. She’s an exceptionally sweet dog, so everybody was kind of touched by her story.”
Finally, McCay and Roberts could take Maple home from MSU, where she’d quickly stolen hearts at the Animal Health Center. She still has a long road to recovery, Roberts said, but she’s a fighter.
“She’s been doing really well at home,” Roberts said. “I think her spirits have increased even more since being home. She’s gotten to show her silly and goofy side. I gave her ice for the first time the other day, and she went crazy.”
While Maple was in treatment, the couple started a GoFundMe to help cover nearly $15,000 in surgical costs that they paid for with money meant for their 2026 wedding. The page has since garnered nearly 900 donations, raising more than $47,000.
“This has been such a great experience, and it’s just been really touching to see that everybody else cares about Maple as much as we do,” Roberts said. “It’s really inspiring.”
McRae is a general assignment and education reporter for The Dispatch.
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Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 47 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
