It was the last day of a self-funded trip to Sri Lanka
in 2005, and my friend Morag and I were feeding the strays near our hotel
before flying back to the UK. Suddenly a gangly flea ridden dog staggered
towards us collapsing at our feet. We had never seen him before, but knew we
had to get him to the vets quickly. The dog had been badly beaten by locals and
his front legs appeared broken. Part of his paw was also severed. The dog
sensed we were his last hope and as we rushed him to the vets we decided to
call him Sid.
As well as his injuries, Sid was infected with
Dirofilaria Repens, a serious disease in dogs which is transmitted by
mosquitoes. He was emaciated, dehydrated and covered in ticks and mange mites.
In view of his neglected state, the vets were cynical about Sid's chances of
survival. But we decided to give him a chance of life and paid to keep him there
for as long as it would take to make him well again.
We had little time before our flight home, but before
leaving managed to give Sid his first ever bath, gently removed the ticks from
his ears and fed him a hearty meal and some fresh water.
We gave him a final hug as we left and Sid howled
pitifully. He broke our hearts and we never thought we would see him again.
But this courageous dog pulled through and we decided
to bring him back to the UK. It was an emotional journey, but Sid's battle for
life was not yet over. During the first month of his quarantine he started
passing blood from his genitals. He had a large Transmissible Venereal Tumour
(TVT) missed by the Sri Lankan vets. The quarantine vet refused to administer
the chemotherapy (Vincristine) to cure him and tried to persuade me to have Sid
put to sleep. But I refused because I knew about this disease from my work in
Sri Lanka, and the treatment is highly effective. After some harrowing weeks,
my own vet agreed to help Sid and fortunately his premises met with DEFRA's approval.
Animals in quarantine are strictly regulated and any movement outside the quarantine
premises has to be authorised by DEFRA. The veterinary costs for the chemotherapy
and transport to the vets were huge and this was in addition to the hefty quarantine
costs, all funded from our wages. Sid was also found to have a tick borne disease
- Ehrlichiosis, which had also been missed by vets in Sri Lanka. But, despite very
thing life had thrown at him, this brave boy sailed through all his treatments
and is now healthy, although he remains disabled due to leg injuries.
(Author unknown)
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