A starved dog which was horrifically “left to die” on Christmas Day in a hedgerow was saved after another canine miraculously sniffed him out from afar. Seven-year-old Rosie, a Lurcher dog, was found with bones sticking out of her skin and lots of puncture wounds.
Rosie was reportedly hours from death in the hedgerow on Spen Common Lane near Tadcaster, North Yorkshire – but was thankfully rescued at 7.30am on Christmas morning when a dog on its walk with its owner started barking, reports MailOnline.
The starving animal was carried back to the dogwalker’s home. The RSPCA was called and told the heroes to send Rosie to an emergency vet. The doctor subsequently smothered Rosie in a purple antibiotic spray which was used to treat numerous puncture wounds all over her body.
The dog was then put on a drip and has been receiving all-day veterinary care at a 24-hour animal hospital ever since. She is supposedly making good progress, although one of her hind legs may have to be amputated as a result of a severe infection.
The RSPCA is urging anyone who knows Rosie, or saw what happened, to get in touch. RSPCA officer James Dack said: “Rosie was sniffed out by the member of the public’s own dog.
“She was extremely fortunate to be discovered as it was a quiet country lane and there were very few people around. She had a number of sporadic wounds all over her body and an infection in one of her hind legs which thankfully seems to be responding to treatment.
“We’re not sure how long she’d been lying there – possibly overnight – but I think she may have succumbed to her injuries and the cold had she not been found.’She had clearly been dumped and left to die.
“There had been an attempt to treat her wounds with an antiseptic spray, but whoever callously abandoned her has probably thought, ‘she’s injured, she’s on her way out, I’ll just leave her’. It was a shocking incident to have to deal with on Christmas Day but it’s why we are out there 365 days a year and it was a pleasure to be able to help Rosie.
“We’d like to extend our thanks and gratitude to the kind member of the public who stopped to help – without her I think we could have been looking at a different outcome – and to the wonderful veterinary team who have been caring for her since.”
Rosie was sold to someone in the ‘Wales/Shropshire area’ about four years ago. Although she was previously microchipped to an address in Nottinghamshire, those details are now out of date.
Anyone with information about her is urged to contact the RSPCA’s appeals line, in confidence, on 0300 123 8018. Animal abandonment is currently surging at a three-year high, with 2023 so far receiving 19,457 incidents – of which 1,619 occurred in the last month alone.
