Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Trauma (trô'mə) (n.):an experience that produces psychological injury or pain.

The last few days have been traumatic to say the very very least. While camping a drunk man wandered onto our campsite walking an American pit bull Labrador mix. The dog attacked our older dog, Cooper and Guy got bit in the process.

Cooper sustained extensive injuries but thanks to all involved (minus the attacking dog and her drunk handler) he is alive. His bottom jaw was completely shattered and he had a compound fracture. The veterinary doctors at the emergency hospital fixed him up and nearly $3,000 later our boy is at home resting and recuperating. We have been referring to him as Frankenmutt. Its obvious he's exhausted but there are moments when there is no doubt he is happy to be home and we couldn't be more ecstatic to have little boy blue home. His face is pretty messed up and its made even more evident because there is no hair to cover his stitches and his jaw is crooked. But, he's alive, has no spinal, brain, heart or lung damage like they originally feared. He has eaten his first meal in many days and I can't even express how truly calming it is to know he has some nourishment.

Guy is fine other than having a torn up hand, an allergic reaction to the tetanus shot and contracting some sort of bacterial infection. Unfortunately because he missed two days of work he was let go. Now he is unemployed and we are seriously crunched for money.

Side Note: This is not an attack on pitbulls. In fact, I have an affinity for the breed and think they can be wonderful family pets when trained properly and handled with care. Because of their size and strength when they do bite they can cause great damage. In this case the situation was faulty to begin with, the man handling the dog was not her owner, was intoxicated and obviously not familiar with the dog's behavior. The family is paying for the damages over a 4 month span.

Before and After

5 comments:

Angela said...

*cry* I'm glad at least the owners are stepping up for their dogs actions. And I hope your boys heal quickly! PLEASE becareful with that dog bite to the hand-I got a "love nip" from my own dog once on my ankle and ended up in the hospital with IV meds needed! They can get bad fast! So keep an eye on it and know that it doesn't need pain to be infect bad. Mine barely hurt!

Linda O'Neill said...

Hi Rachel...thanks for stopping by my blog!

I'm so sorry to hear about Cooper and Guy...that's so terrible. I'm sending them both lots of love and kisses for a quick recovery. You too!

Anonymous said...

What an awful thing to happen, I'm so sorry...hope your man and pup are healing up quickly.

artpaw said...

Wow, I am glad everyone survived. My heart goes out to you. I hope Guy's next employer is more compassionate than the last.

cara said...

Oh my, that's awful. I'm so glad your doggy and your boy are alright. I hate bad dog handlers. I firmly believe there are no bad gods, only bad owners. I too have a soft spot for pit bulls, I think that they're lovely dogs, they just have an unfortunate tendency to be owned by people who don't respect them.

I hope poor Cooper heals up soon.

Thanks for dropping by my blog!

 
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