EVERY dog has its day rings true for the bubbly Beagle, Chloe, as a vet stepped in to save her life when its owners made the difficult choice to put her to sleep.
The six-year-old pooch was brought in to see Dr Bruce Meyers at the St Helier Veterinary Hospital and Specialist Referral Centre in an ataxic state.
She was wounded in a dog fight and, according to GP, Kath Sparks, walked as if she was intoxicated and was in tremendous pain.
Dr Meyers was worried there was a spinal lesion from the dog bite on her neck and she was booked in for an MRI on 30 July. Dr Sparks said there was a large lesion on her neck and the intervertebral disc had prolapsed. “She couldn’t move her neck at all and she would just scream in pain,” said Dr Sparks.
“The owners live in India and family members were looking after her. They didn’t think they could care for her well enough after the spinal injury surgery and, after much careful thought and deliberation, they chose to put her to sleep,” said Dr Sparks.
Dr Meyers didn’t want to put her down and, after speaking with the family members at length, they agreed to sign her over to him. He then performed the surgery pro bono and would then find her a new home.
The MRI costs R15 000, which was paid for by the family, and the surgery, depending on the severity, can cost between R18 000 to R20 000. This was covered by Dr Meyers who takes on up to two pro bono cases each year. When he saw Chloe, he knew she would have a really great outcome after the surgery.
ALSO READ: Dog lovers help raise funds for hound resort
The surgery was two hours long and was completed on 2 August. The prolapsed disc material was removed and her journey to a full recovery began.
“She was completely pain free and within two days she was back to normal,” said a proud Dr Sparks.
Once the surgery was complete and little Chloe was in recovery, the caring vets sent out a call for support to find her a new home.
Ricky Lee Meijers of Beagle Rescue in Gauteng was contacted and, through her involvement, Dave Lambetti came forward and donated R2 000 towards her care. Food companies also made in-kind donations for when she settled at her forever home.
A vet from Aragon Vets on Nottingham Road, Dr Diana Foden, found the dog a home with Sharon Cross.
“I fostered her when she was here as she has separation anxiety and got quite stressed when she was alone. Her new owner is home all day and she is now living in the lap of luxury,” smiled Dr Sparks. “She is absolutely loving life at the moment, is an absolute sweetheart that is so loving and gentle.”
“We want to thank everyone involved from the donor to her new owner and the pet food companies who donated food,” said Dr Sparks.
Do you want to receive alerts regarding this and other Highway community news via Telegram? Send us a Telegram message (not an SMS) with your name and surname (ONLY) to 060 532 5409.
You can also join the conversation on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have signed up for our news alerts you need to save the Telegram number as a contact to your phone, otherwise you will not receive our alerts.
Here’s where you can download Telegram on Android or Apple.
To receive our free newsletter click here.
