Our clinic in Blantyre acts as a veterinary hub for the entire community, providing emergency treatments for pets and stray animals that would otherwise go without care. Last week, our vets met Promise, a four-month-old puppy in a terrible condition. Her owner, a young child from the district of Ndirande in Blantyre, was extremely worried about her dog. Promise had been scampering around the family’s neighbourhood, playing with some of the other dogs, when she was hit by a passing car. She was immediately brought to our community clinic to be examined. Promise was given some pain relief and our vets began to clean the wounds on her hind leg. The skin had been torn away upon contact with the hard ground and she was also suffering from multiple broken bones.
Our vets x-rayed Promise to determine the extent of the damage. Unfortunately, it was clear the leg could not be saved – the impact with the car had left her with a number of crushed bones that could simply not be repaired. The rest of Promise’s family soon arrived at the clinic and our vets explained the need to amputate her leg. Although initially very concerned, Dagmar, our Africa Projects Director who was leading the treatment, was able to show them a video of one of our previous patients to assure them this was the right course of action. The video showed Savannah, a dog who had also been involved in a car accident and required an amputation a few months previously. She is now happily running around on three legs and lives with one of our former volunteers. The family were relieved to see how happy and active Savannah was, and wanted Promise to still be able to enjoy being a playful puppy. They gave consent for the operation and our vets got to work! Promise recovered amazingly well and was soon hobbling around the clinic, adjusting to her new situation. She was returned home to her loving family just three days later and is already bounding around enjoying life on three legs!
Promise became a favourite amongst our team in the short time that she was with us at the clinic and welcomed our vets with a friendly face each morning. Her family were so pleased that our vets were there to help and have since returned with Promise for a check-up to make sure she is still healthy! We strive to treat all animals that come to our centre and working with the community is such a vital part of this! Together, we can BE the difference! If you would like to support our work at the frontline of animal welfare, and help us save more dogs like Promise, please consider becoming a member and together, we can help even more animals in need.