Abandoned puppy gets new home

MIAMI (WSVN) -- A puppy survived an awful ordeal virtually unscathed, and it didn't take long for someone to give him a happy home.

Little Cooper is now living the life of royalty after a viewer saw his heartbreaking story on TV and decided to adopt him. Now, this little puppy has a brand new lease on life. "You can see he's just a happy little guy," said Ana Cubillos. "And at that moment, I just said, 'I need to know what I can do to help him.'"

Ana heard about Cooper's story on the news: The 8-month-old Shih Tzu was thrown from a moving car that was going about 60 miles an hour on US 27 in West Broward two weeks ago.

A Good Samaritan watched it all happen. "She saw them open the window and out came Cooper," said Kelly Lecain of Pets in Distress. "She said they catapulted him from the car. He spiraled like a football and landed in the median."

The woman took Cooper to the veterinarian, who then called Pets In Distress. The organization was caring for Cooper until Ana came by to meet him. "Oh, my God," said Ana. "I walked out, he looked at me, I picked him up, and he put his head right on my chest and sighed, like he had just found his home, and I said, 'This is it.'"

Ana said Cooper has adjusted just fine to his new home and older sibling. Ana believes Cooper is a happy, healthy dog who did not deserve the abuse he suffered. "Just to think that there are people out there who can do this," said Ana. "It's really very sad that there can be such evil people not willing to give their pets a chance."

There is still no word on who might have done this to Cooper. If you have any info on who Cooper once belonged to, you're asked to contact police.

(Copyright 2012 by Sunbeam Television Corp. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)