Marvin's story is already mentined in the video. He was discovered stuffed inside a cat cage on a hot day. He had obviously been subjected to a lifetime of abuse. He only weighed 13kg (a dog of his age and breed should be around 35kg), had lost the skin over his rump which was being eaten away by maggots, was severely anaemic and he was unable to stand.
A decision needed to be made. Could we save Marvin or should we put him to sleep. The big eyes and wagging tail helped convince us that Marvin could pull through. What followed was weeks of intensive care, physiotherapy and good quality nutrition. After 2 weeks, Marvin was strong enough to stand on his own.
I had always warned my wife we were unlikely to ever own a dog with 2 eyes and 4 legs, as I knew I would one day adopt a dog which really needed a home. Luckily Marvin has returned to nearly full health, though he has a couple of minor problems we manage on a regular basis. He is strong enough to chase the ball at the beach or run 10km with me.
The small, dark coloured dog missing a front leg is Buddy. Buddy came to us with a broken raduis and ulna. We tried to repair the leg with metal pins, but unfortunately the fracture wouldn't heal. After 10 weeks of trying, we realised we couldn't save the leg. We made the difficult decision to amputate. As you can see from the video, amputation hasn't slowed Buddy down. He's still a happy ball of energy.
Alfie is the other three-legged dog in the video. Alfie was lucky to survive his accident. The gate at his house blew open, Buddy escaped, and ran in front of a car. The car hit his back end, dislocating his right hip, removing a lot of skin on the right hind leg, and breaking his left back leg in several places exposing the bone in several places. The left leg was beyond saving, but with the right hip dislocated Alfie was going to struggle to function.
We put the hip back into place and Alfie was hospitalised for several days, but unfortunately the hip came back out of joint, so we needed to operate. The surgery took myself and Joc around 2 hours to repair the hip. After several more weeks of bandage changes, Alfie hasnow recovered well from his injuries.
You will also notice in the video other dogs wandering around the clinic. We have a practice policy of the staff being able to bring their dogs in to work. The dogs love coming in and being with the owners for the day, and the other pets in hospital seem to be reassured by these dogs walking around and being so relaxed here.
I would like to congratulate the other Better Business Booster finalists on getting this far. The level of professionalism and enthusiasm shown by these people is inspiring, and I wish them all the best for the future.
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