Many people have been following the story of Sweet Pea, a gentle little husky rescued from the Red Lake Reservation during a recent large-scale spay/neuter effort there. She was first brought to Animal Ark's Neuter Commuter by some good samaritans who had found her laying in a ditch. She had been hit by a car and could not stand or walk. Based on her condition, veterinarians believed she had been left there for 2-3 days without food or water.
Photo: Sweet Pea in her kennel in Animal Ark's Neuter Commuter while en route to our shelter in HastingsBecause her injuries were too severe to be addressed during our short stay in Red Lake, our team decided we had to bring Sweet Pea back to the Animal Ark shelter in Hastings. Once in Hastings, the wonderful staff at Akin Hills Vet Hospital offered to donate services to help with her care, including surgeries and other veterinary care, with assistance from our vet and staff.
It turned out that Sweet Pea was in pretty sad shape. Her left shoulder was dislocated. Even worse all of the long bones in her right front leg were broken, the radius, ulna and the humerus.
Needless-to-say, the prognosis for this poor girl was not all that positive. While dogs can live with an amputated leg, the loss of 2 legs would not be acceptable. Our team decided that we HAD to do everything possible to save both legs. In the event that something didn't work, she may be able to keep at least one of them.
Her first surgery helped to repair the dislocated shoulder. Later, a series of pins were added to the right leg and attached to an external fixture that actually holds the humerus in place. In the photo below, the pink bandage is covering up this external fixture.
Staff and volunteers at Animal Ark have been holding our breath to see how she would progress. . .
We always want every animal that comes to Animal Ark to have the best possible outcome. Always. However, in all honesty, some of the "kids" that come through touch our hearts in extra-special ways. Sweet Pea is one of those. Even before her surgeries, when she must have been suffering from severe pain, she would greet each new person she met with gentle kisses and an enthusiastic wag of her tail. No one can avoid falling in love with Sweet Pea, even if they wanted to.
For all of these reasons, we have been anxious to see how her healing would go.
Well, the this picture will give you a clue how it is going:
Just in time for the holidays, Sweet Pea has been given the gift of the use of her legs. We are hopeful that no complications will develop and that her pins and support device will be removed in a few weeks. Then, she will be ready to start the new year with a new life.
