The Boer family from Portlands Mitchells Plain simply adore their 3-year-old Maltese Poodle named Stacy. And when the Animal Welfare Society of SA asked Daniel Boer to send them a few photographs of Stacy before her near-fatal accident, he sent the shelter an album to choose from! This was a clear indication that she is a much-loved part of their family.
According to Daniel, Stacy is an adventurous little companion who loves her walks, and frequently accompanies the family on outings. The family went to visit friends in Chatsworth near Malmesbury and decided to take Stacy along.
On one of their walks, Stacy dashed off to explore and disappeared into the undergrowth. A few minutes later she returned covered in a thick mat of painful Acacia thorns that had penetrated her legs, chest, belly, abdomen and back-side.
The family managed to pull out around 100 large thorns, but noticed hundreds more stuck deep in her skin and entangled in her coat and decided that these would need to be surgically extracted whilst she was under sedation.
“Before we were able to safely remove the remaining thorns we needed to shave Stacy and it then really became apparent just how many thorns and “prick” wounds she has sustained,” says the Animal Welfare Society of SA.
Thankfully after a painstaking process lasting several hours, the Animal Welfare Society of SA managed to remove all of the thorns and treat all of her wounds before discharging her back to the care of her distraught owner, who has vowed to never let her out of his sight on future walks.
What happened to Stacy is very unfortunate, but could easily have been prevented if she had been walked on a lead. Allowing dogs and puppies to wander off in unfamiliar places is fraught with danger and to be avoided at all costs.
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Picture/s: Facebook / Animal Welfare Society of SA