Colby Patroni says she thought she was helping an old friend with a sick puppy.
But now the friend is charged with animal cruelty and the college student is out of a job and worried it could impact her career.
Patroni has known Kyle Blythe since high school.
"We would talk over social media briefly about how cute his dog was," she recalled. "One day, he mentioned she wasn't eating or drinking, so I offered that he bring her over."
Patroni, 19, was a longtime ASPCA volunteer when she lived in Maryland and was working at the Absecon Veterinary Hospital while going to Stockton University full time.
"At first, I thought she was scared because she was in a strange place without her owner," Patroni said of 4-month-old Dolce.
Then the pup started throwing up blood.
The aspiring veterinarian rushed from Galloway Township to her job to get help, she said.
That's when Patroni learned what was really wrong with the pup.
"The doctor said the dog had major trauma, bleeding in her lungs, behind her eyes, in her brain and suffered two fractured ribs," Patroni said.
Unable to answer the vet's questions about what happened to the puppy, Patroni called Blythe.
He told her two different stories, she said.
First, he said his brother beat the dog because she had an accident in his room. Then, she said, was that the dog got out for a few hours.
Dolce had to be euthanized.
Kyle Blythe has denied harming the dog.
Blythe has denied harming the dog, but has declined to detail how the injuries occurred, citing the advice of his attorney.
Although Patroni has not been criminally charged, she was fired when she went to work the next day for involvement with a cruelty case.
Absecon Veterinary Hospital did not respond to a request for comment.
"I had no idea the dog was in the condition it was in when it was brought to me," Patroni said. "(Blythe) made it sound like she was just acting funny, and that nothing was seriously wrong. Then I get bombarded with all this heartbreaking information.
"I was truly ignorant on the entire situation," she added. "I had no idea what I was involved in. It was so terrible (a) crime."
