Written by Fiona Nicholson
Professional photography by Pix for Paws
On our way home from a trip to Gauteng, we learned that one of our rescue dogs, TJ (who was adopted from Louis Trichard SPCA as a pup), had got his head stuck through a hole in the fence. While he was stuck in the fence, he’d been attacked – his head had been savaged by our neighbour’s five dogs. Fortunately, our American friends, Ginger and John, were visiting, and, after considerable effort, they managed to pull him free.
Of course he immediately ran off and hid, but fortunately a troop of vervet monkeys alerted our visitors to where he was. Together with two of our village friends, they rushed him the long 70-kilometre route through to the Legacy Clinic at Louis Trichardt SPCA. We met them there and were horrified by the state our poor TJ was in.
Only dog-lovers can truly understand... if TJ survived the shock, it was likely that he could lose his eye, nose and ear. For us, however, so long as he lived, we didn’t care! As it happens, vet Elanie Nel worked miracles! With 40+ stitches and two nights on a drip, not only did TJ survive, his eye, nose and ragged ear were saved!
He’s as spirited as ever before and is now also known as Scarface!
Hats off and huge thanks to the entire Legacy Team for saving our beloved dog, and to Dotsure for helping to cover the costs.
