Family cares for dog whose owner was injured in wreck caused by tornado

ALAMO, Tenn. — It’s home sweet home, for now, for Bubba the boxer after his owner, Chuck Duett, had to leave him behind after a wreck during Tuesday’s tornado.

“I wasn’t paying attention to my wounds. I was more worried about my dog, Bubba, because I couldn’t find him while I was looking in the truck,” Duett told WBBJ over the phone Thursday. “He wasn’t crying or whimpering, so I was wanting to make sure he was OK.”

Duett only suffered minor injuries in the crash but still had to go to the hospital.

That’s when Crockett County Rescue Squad member Brandon Smallwood stepped in.

“All he was worried about was, ‘Where’s my dog? My dog.’ His arm was bleeding. He had blood all over him, so I go searching through the truck and that’s how I found Bubba,” Smallwood said.

“He jumped on up in the truck and we looked him over and of course he had a little spot on his head, but he was OK,” Smallwood’s girlfriend, Brooke Castellaw, said.

The aftermath of the wreck that left Bubba temporarily in West Tennessee is still evident on Highway 412, but Duett said he’s just happy someone’s here to take care of his best friend.

“He is a family member to me and my family, and so knowing that he was taken care of and we don’t have to worry about him, it makes it feel a lot easier,” Duett said.

But for now, this four-legged friend has a home with his temporary family, something the couple said they’re glad to be able to do.

“Anybody with a big heart will do the same thing. He didn’t have nowhere to go, didn’t have nowhere to take him to because he was going to the hospital. I said, ‘man, I’ll take care of your dog,'” Smallwood said.

“That means a lot to us to be able to do that and to help Chuck with his best friend,” Castellaw said.

As of Thursday afternoon, Bubba’s owner was in Chattanooga with his company, where he says he’ll be for the next few weeks.

However, Duett said his daughter is driving from Oklahoma and will pick up Bubba on Friday.