Sundae and Johnny
The dogs were in agony. A porcupine run-in left their mouths, tongues, eyes, faces and torsos riddled with quills. Porcupine encounters shouldn't be a death sentence, but in remote areas without access to vet care or humane services of any kind, Sundae and Johnny were doomed.
Sundae's face |
On May 11, 2009, Heavenly Creatures was contacted by friends of the organization who live in Labrador. Two of the many homeless dogs there, who live outside 24/7 and barely survive the torments of weather, starvation and abuse by children and adults alike, had come to them for help.
Johnny's eye is swollen shut--a quill punctured his cornea. It is not yet known if his eye will be saved. |
Johnny and Sundae, as these dogs were named, were in quite a state after getting into scrapes with porcupines.
Tragically, there is no vet in the remote area they are in, so the dogs were suffering terribly. They desperately needed to get to Heavenly Creatures so we could rush them into an animal hospital. We started by purchasing large kennels to deliver to them (everything must be flown into the area and these went on Tuesday, May 12), and arranging for the return flight. In the meantime, we started fundraising to cover the transportation costs and the thousands of dollars in vet bills we were sure to incur.
Sundae is salivating from pain and fear; spitting up blood and pus. |
Our friends in Labrador said the dogs were in agony. They had already pulled some twenty quills from poor Johnny's face, when they reported:
We are really worried about Johnny and Sundae, as we know they will only continue to get worse here. Both of them are pretty weak at this point after a few days of not eating or drinking much.
You can't tell from the pictures, but Johnny's mouth is full of quills. He tries to eat some dry food but only manages to get a few pieces before the quills make him gag and claw at his face, which is why there is all that blood on his paws; and one of his eyes is swollen shut.
After five days, they told us:
We have Johnny in the house with us this evening. We were able to give him some medicine and milk using a syringe. We noticed the reason for the puss in his eye -- the quill is actually in his eyeball! This eye has gone white and cloudy so we are assuming he cannot see out of it.
Johnny is in a lot of pain here. Dried blood is caked around his mouth from his attempts to claw the quills from his face. |
Johnny will still not eat or drink, and he continues to claw at his mouth. He seems a bit better today, as he managed to get all of the quills out of the top of his tongue; the quills in the roof of his mouth and the underside of his tongue are still causing him a lot of discomfort, though.
Sundae is not drinking or eating either, and her mouth is still completely full of quills. She has begun to claw at her mouth the same way Johnny does.
The vet removed over 100 quills from Sundae's face. |
One of the other dogs has actually managed to pick one of the quills out of Sundae's chest the other evening when they were in our porch and he continues to try to pull them out of her face.
Those poor animals.
Finally, at long last, late in the day on May 16, 2009, the dogs arrived in St. John's, where volunteers were waiting for them at the airport to rush to the veterinary clinic.
Johnny was so patient throughout the ordeal. |
Such brave and well-behaved dogs they both are! Despite the agony they were in (and had been in for days), both Johnny and Sundae were patient and gentle.
Sundae after surgery. Finally pain free. |
In vet bills alone, we owe $1,600. We will need to get the dogs spayed and neutered when they are strong enough for surgery, and that will cost another $700. If poor Johnny's eye has to come out, we'll be looking at as much as $1,500 on top of that.
There are many ways you can help, with all donation options listed on our Donation page.
Earn your Silver, Golden or Platinum Wings (or even a Heavenly Halo!) by sponsoring an animal like Johnny or Sundae.
Your generosity will give animal like Sundae and Johnny a new lease on life!
