Puppy rescued from Fort Lauderdale house fire dies

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A 9-month-old puppy that was rescued from a Fort Lauderdale house fire earlier this week has died.

Doctors at Lauderdale Veterinary Specialists said Thursday that Sweet Pea was euthanized after discovering that the burns to her body had worsened.

Sweet Pea was rescued from a house fire Monday morning in the 1800 block of Southwest 22nd Street. Jason Hall said his neighbors were able to rescue Sweet Pea before firefighters arrived, but his other two dogs were killed.

Doctors said Sweet Pea's condition took a significant turn for the worse Thursday, so after consulting with Hall, a decision was made to end her suffering.

"Words can't describe the sadness our team is feeling this morning," Dr. Ira Zaslow said. "While medical technology gives us an ever-increasing ability to do amazing things, tragically, Sweet Pea's burn injury continued to worsen, covering over 75 percent of her body. Our thoughts and prayers go out to Mr. Hall, and Sweet Pea will certainly hold a special place in all of our hearts."

Hall thanked everyone who donated money to help pay for Sweet Pea's medical treatment. More than $6,000 had been raised on the website GoFundMe as of Thursday morning. 

"I'm extremely grateful to the community for coming together to donate funds to try to help Sweet Pea and the team that tried to save her," Hall said.

Any remaining money will be donated to the Pet's Tree of Hope Fund, a nonprofit organization that helps South Florida animals.