Topic: Pet owner horrified after grandson hurts dog
Pet owner horrified after grandson hurts dog
This makes me sick
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SAINT JOHN - A German shepherd named Major whimpered and yelped as a veterinarian removed bandages, revealing tendons and bone.
Six days after he was dragged behind a pickup truck down a rural back road in Saint John, Major is lucky to be alive, his vet said.
"I've seen injuries like this before," said Sara Pridham, who was changing Major's bandages at the Fairvale Animal Hospital in Rothesay on Tuesday. "But not from this kind of trauma."
The dog has scraped paws and a gash on his chest where a chain likely dragged under him as he tried to pull himself up, the speeding truck yanking him along the pavement.
Now his owner, Elmer Soucy, is livid with his grandson and his friends, who said they dragged the dog by accident last Wednesday, not bothering to tell Soucy for a good 24 hours while the dog lay dying in a ditch.
Major had been hooked by a chain along a clothesline in Soucy's yard on Golden Grove Road when the grandson and his friend came barrelling by in the truck, snagging the dog's chain, Soucy said.
The teenagers continued down the east side road, apparently unaware that the dog was attached to the chain.
Major was freed when his collar finally came off about a mile, or 1.6 kilometres, down the road.
The teens continued on their way, found the chain and collar, but didn't tell anyone for fear of repercussions, Soucy said.
Meanwhile, Soucy was worried Major had broken free from the line and got his chain tangled somewhere in the woods. He had been scouring the area for his five-year-old pet.
"I looked everywhere. All day long," Soucy said. "Then they finally told me."
It was actually Soucy's son - the teen's father - that finally told him the dog had been dragged.
Soucy and his family started walking along Golden Grove Road and found Major, lying in the ditch.
"He had drug himself into the ditch, shocked," Soucy said. "He was still alive. He couldn't lift his head. It was down in the water."
He figures in another few hours, Major would have been dead.
He raced his pet to the Fairvale Animal Hospital, where Pridham tended to his wounds, carrying him inside on a stretcher.
She gave him pain medication, sedated him, took x-rays and gave him a few stitches. The dog was a little dehydrated, but was actually OK, despite the deep wounds.
"I didn't think he would make it," Soucy said, with tears in his eyes.
Soucy still hasn't heard directly from his grandson. He's not sure if the teens were drinking that night.
He called police, who came to Soucy's home, but the officers told him there was nothing they could do because it happened on private property and it was considered an accident.
"When they (had) seen the chain, they should have done something about it," Soucy said, referring to the teens. "That's what I'm concerned about."
Sgt. Lori Magee, of the Saint John Police Force, said police considered the incident to be an accident and no charges would be laid.
"It looked like one family member was upset with the other, but certainly nothing that was intentional," she said. "It looks like a family member was not paying attention, and the chain somehow connected when they were leaving the driveway. It didn't look to be any intent to harm the dog."
Kari Poore, the executive director of the Saint John SPCA Animal Rescue, said her animal shelter received a call from Soucy last week. They recommended he contact the New Brunswick SPCA.
"The sad thing is, I've heard these stories of people doing it on purpose, and I cannot imagine people doing that," she said. She said she hoped it truly was an accident.
The chief animal protection officer of the SPCA could not be reached Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Soucy will have to pay more than $1,000 in vet bills, and Major could need physiotherapy and more surgery to help his wounds heal.
The animal hospital is using special laser therapy to speed healing.
Major had to be sedated Tuesday while the veterinarian worked at changing the bandages, a daily task. It will take him six to eight weeks to get back to normal. It's been "like hell" for Soucy to watch his dog - who still tries to follow him everywhere - go through the pain.
"He's had dogs his whole life, but this one kind of, right from day one, was his baby," said his daughter, Gisele Boyle.
"I just don't know how this can be done and be considered an accident, with no repercussions," Boyle said at the vet clinic. "You can't run away from a (car) accident and not get caught, so how can these guys? I don't understand."
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