Triple Amputee Mama
In the 1st week of Oct 2019 a lady who had worked on rescuing dogs from horrific conditions in a shelter in Simla in 2012 reached out to us – with a public post of a dog that has been run over by a train that has severed 3 of her legs. The pictures where of the dog lying next to the railway track covered in blood. There was another picture where the dog was lying on the road with her 6 pups that were still trying to suckle her. These pictures were of a small Facebook page in Indore – and nobody had any real idea medically what to do with the dog but hundreds of people were commenting on how sad it was. The dog was not in Indore. The dog was in Farrukhabad in UP a small town about equidistant from Kanpur and Lucknow. Nobody had been able to reach the person who had the dog.
Nobody knew about the dog’s condition. The pain and blood loss could make the dog go into shock and the dog would die. Or the dog could survive for a few hours and die of blood loss. Or the dog could die of the infections in the exposed wounds. They could be eaten alive by maggots till they reach its abdomen and eat it alive. There are many choices Indian stray dogs have, to die neglected and without any help. There are few options of any real action to save their lives. This is the kind of dog VOSD is made for.
Survival till Help Reached
We found the person who had taken the dog’s pictures. It was a disheartening sight. The picture of small-town India. Brick houses that nobody had got plastered on the outside. Exposed drains on which household water emptied both sides of the road. The dog covered in mud in the garage area of the house. Her wounds there covered in caked blood and mud. The gentleman who had brought the dog in was a doctor. We immediately gave him detailed instructions on what he needed to get to wash the dog, keep it on a clean surface, inject in order to prevent infections, loss of blood, give some succor to the dog, manage pain. He was a well-meaning person but unable to take care of the dog – and he sent for the vet who arrived late evening and gave a mild painkiller and left. Vets, for the most part, are used to cattle across India. The govt of India is the largest employer. The private dairies are the no. 2. Employers of vets in this country. We knew the dog would not survive long there and neither will its babies.
The nearest place to take the dogs were Kanpur or Lucknow. So, the VOSD team started making local enquiries on where these dogs can be brought in – the NGOs and the private hospital that could give it that level of care. Additionally, we needed to transport the dog and needed local help. After an evening with hundreds of calls and messages, it was clear that that level of medical expertise was not available in either city both of which was a 4 hr drive. In the meanwhile, the local people in Farrukhabad said that could not arrange any taxis even though we were paying for it.
The only other option was New Delhi – but that was a 10hr drive through traffic and if we can get a car. Again, we spoke to every well-meaning person we could. Finally, a lady called Kavita Bagga who had studied with the VOSD Founder agreed to intervene. She knew people in the IAS cadre in UP. A call was made to the District Magistrate (DM) of the area – who in turn made a call to the local taxi stand. In rural India, no-one refuses the DM. Finally, Mama had a real chance. She was driven with her pups in the morning at about 11am and we kept monitoring her progress on the 4G phone of the driver. She reached the CGS Hospital in Gurgaon at 10 pm in the night. Kavita had made arrangement with the doctors to receive her and give her immediate treatment. She was given IV, her wounds were cleaned, and she was in a sterilized area. She was weak but responsive.
To Amputate or Not?
We all spent a very tense night. In the morning, the senior vets checked her. At this stage we started to monitor what she was getting when. The hospital was not cooperative about that. The only thing they insisted was that the 3 legs had to be amputated and they would be major amputations. We insisted on seeing her blood work. It did not show severe infection and the wounds were not badly infected though the bones were splintered and exposed. Her amputation would happen in Bangalore in our direct supervision, but the vets did not want that.
They were projecting the amputation to save her life which was not the case in her blood work or her X rays. We decided to drive Mama to Bangalore. With local Delhi support from very well-known activists who vouched for the pet transport we decided that Mama will drive non-stop with 2 drivers. We paid the fees to the company in advance. On the said day and time, the car never appeared. The driver and the company switched off their phone. The local rescuers could do nothing about it. Mama had to be discharged but where was she to go?
A lady who had sent several dogs to VOSD from Mumbai and now lived in Delhi said she will. Batool Sayed is a Kashmiri girl and has lived with the problems of being a single, Kashmiri, Muslim girl with half a dozen dogs in her home. Batool took in Mama and her pups and mothered Mama in her home and kept the pups in a kennel. She would take her every day to the vet to change her dressing and give her treatment – while working in a bank from 9 am to 6 pm.
The vets at the new hospital at Friendicoes also decided to amputate the dog – though her blood work was improving and so were her wounds. We got ona call with the vets and were horrified at the plan – all 4 legs would be cut at the same length! In the meanwhile, we had reached out the experts on animal amputations in India and to people who can manufacture prosthetics and 3D print. The day her surgery was due at 6AM in the morning we got on a call with the vets and cancelled her surgery. She was kept by Batool a few more days while we looked for a transport for her and pups to Bangalore.
Long Ride Home to VOSD
No reliable transport could be found – the ambulances could not clearly tell us what the tolls on the road were, they did not have GPS tracking etc. Finally, our partner organization in Pune called Tails ‘N’ Trees decided to send us their ambulance. The ambulance was serviced and with 2 drivers and 1 helper drove non-stop from Pune to Delhi picked up Mama and drove non-stop to Bangalore.
It took a few days for us to arrange for Mama to have the amputation – which was exactly one month to the day her accident happened. It took another 3 months for her wounds to finally heal – in which time she had to be carried 100% of her time. We got her pups home to VOSD too and they are beautiful, healthy grown up dogs now. When Mama healed, she learnt to walk on her one good leg and the stump of the diagonal leg. She is the bravest most loving dog we have. She has a full life – eats well, bosses over other dogs and walks around a 2000 sq. foot yard, sleeps in a warm bed with her handler. That is the magic of VOSD.