Friday night around 10:30 my puppy ran off and wouldn't come back-this is normal considering he loves to go play in the backyard of our house and always come back within 5 minutes to the back door. Well we go to open the door, normally we wouldn't have left him outside alone at all but it was about 20 degrees and raining and he refused to come inside. Well, he walked in and I immediately screamed-he had somehow managed to cut his leg from his shoulder to his paw and was bleeding and crying profusely. I immediately grabbed him and wrapped him up. I have never in my life seen a wound like this-we still have no clue how he could have done it-we checked every part of our fence; his leg looked almost like someone had tried to skin him. My roommate and a friend who was over immediately get on the phone, calling every vet in the phonebook and online, within 30 or so miles. After 30 minutes of trying as I'm hysterical, holding a bleeding dog who's going into shock from the pain, we have gotten nothing but voicemails-even OUR OWN VET-who advertises a 24 hour emergency service!!! I was furious-and we finally get "Dr. Greg" whoever that is-I was not capable of talking rationally to these people at this point-on the phone, and he tells me he's in the middle of something else and won't be able to help us. Now, I don't know how people feel about their pets, but I'm 23 and this is my child. He and my other dog are the only two things I have to take care of right now, and to me they are just as important as anyone else in my life. We FINALLY reached a vet-in McComb, MS-an hour or so away-yes we got a REAL PERSON on the phone this time-and he agreed to meet us if we would leave immediately. So of course we jump in the car and drive-mind you it's sleeting and below freezing outside and by this time close to midnight-and drive as fast as we safely can to this vet. The entire time I'm crying, holding Simon close to me, praying and begging him to hold on just a little longer. When we got there they told me there was no way they could save his leg, so we chose to have it amputated. His vital signs were good-my little baby is a survivor! He's only 13 weeks old after all. We brought him home today and he is doing well. It breaks my heart to see him struggle but he's got high spirits in spite of everything. He's up licking our faces and trying to do his normal activities. I am enraged, however, at the fact that NONE-I repeat-NONE of the vets we called desperately searching for help Friday night have called us back. Not even our own vet. Do these people not take oaths? I could have sworn it was their responsibility, their duty as doctors to help! Not a single phone call! Not even to see if he was dead? How can anyone advertise 24 hour emergency care if they A-don't answer the phone, and B-don't ever return a voicemail message?! I am sure that there's some logical explanation for why me holding a bleeding dog begging for help wasn't enough to catch their attention, but I am still enraged. I wish I knew who to contact or what could be done. How many animals die because these people don't really offer 24 hour care? I drove over an hour-he survived 2 hours bleeding and in pain because I couldn't get help here in Natchez. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. That's my complaint. I just wish I knew how to make sure this kind of thing never happens to any animal again.