This week is one of those weeks where the story ends unhappily. But it has to be told.
It was late one evening, just before clinic closing time, when I received a distress phone call from a man who asked whether I could wait for him to get there as he had just found a dog in the countryside that clearly needed urgent veterinary care.
The dog turned out to be a mature male, orange and white Basset Hound. The gentleman who brought the dog in told me that when he saw the dog, he recognised it as a pure breed and immediately assumed it had been lost. But a thorough scan for the microchip that would have given us the name of the dog’s anxious owner turned up nothing – even though he was well old enough to have one.
Basset Hounds are normally cuddly dogs with excess skin that you can stretch like dough. They are also very companionable dogs that love to eat and are frequently overweight because they tend to be spoilt by loving and indulgent owners. But not this poor specimen.
The dog was severely dehydrated. His nails were so long that they had started to curl under. But what was most shocking was that this poor dog had obviously been starved – to the extent that all that was left of him was his skin draped over his skeleton. He was so weak that he could barely stand erect. He was truly a pitiful sight. And yet, the kind gentleman who found him wanted to do everything possible to save him.
We immediately started with rehydration fluid treatment. He was too weak to stand, so I examined him lying down on the table. And that is when I understood why this Basset Hound was found wandering about in the countryside with no collar and no microchip. It also told me why the gentleman who brought him had found it roaming the fields of Delimara.
As I felt over its abdomen, I found a rock hard swelling about the size of a grapefruit. I surmised, correctly I suspect that the dog had already been known to be unwell before finding himself abandoned.
The Basset Hound was found in the vicinity of the dog sanctuary located in Delimara and, where I am told, animals are frequently abandoned outside the gates – usually tied up to a tree or left in a box. We will never know whether it was tied up and somehow got loose or whether it was simply dumped outside the gate and left to fend for itself. The fact is that the condition of the dog was such that it had clearly been without food for three to four weeks. And with a tumour growing in its belly, it would have weakened very rapidly.
Owning a pet brings with it a great deal of pleasure, yet also a duty to give it respect and welfare. When pets become sick, things can become tough – both for the pet as well as the owner. Sometimes it’s due to the severity of the illness or condition, sometimes because of the emotional toll it takes on whoever loves the animal and sometimes for financial reasons.
The emotional situations I speak of are very often those where love for one’s pet prevents owners from going to the vet for fear of hearing terrible news they feel they cannot cope with. These are the cases that are understandable up to a certain point. Thankfully, they seldom happen nowadays.
But if finances are genuinely a problem, there are many non-profit organisations that will help animal owners in dire straits. These groups never cease to amaze me with their love for animals. Even when they have enough living expenses of their own, they will often dig into their own pockets when help is needed. There are also a number of insurance companies that offer pet insurance at reasonable rates that can help towards better financial planning for pets.
Ultimately, no matter what the situation, a frank discussion with your veterinarian should always find the best solution for the welfare of a pet without having to resort to either abandoning it outside or in your own home for that matter.
This case with the Basset Hound reminded me of a similar one years ago, before obligatory microchipping of dogs was introduced. That time, it was a poodle with a broken leg I had X-rayed. A similar poodle with exactly the same fracture confirmed by X-ray was found roaming the streets two days later – clearly abandoned.
That dog was lucky. It was adopted and its leg attended to. For the Basset Hound with no name and an untraceable owner, there was no such reprieve. Due to his medical condition, for humane reasons he was put to sleep.
thisweekwiththevet@gmail.com
Dr Martin Debattista is a veterinary surgeon.