LAKE WORTH BEACH, Fla. (WSVN) — A dog is on a long road to recovery after a good Samaritan found him with a brutal injury in Lake Worth Beach.
Veterinarians said they believe the stray dog, named Brady, may have been bitten by an alligator.
“It was an extremely severe injury. It’s one of the worst that I have personally ever seen,” said Dr. Victoria Koehler, medical director of the organization Furry Friends.
Koehler believe Brady was suffering for several days before someone found the dog near a canal last week.
The veterinarian said the canine’s front legs had catastrophic damage.
“And that wound had been there for quite some time. It was – the tissue was dead, there was bone exposed,” said Koehler.
The person who found Brady took him to Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control in West Palm Beach.
With help from Furry Friends, Brady received immediate care.
Koehler said the dog needed urgent treatment.
“After we took him in, he was definitely in shock, mostly just from the pain, dehydration,” she said.
Brady underwent emergency surgery. The injuries were so severe, one leg was amputated.
The medical team, led by Koehler, worked to stabilize Brady, giving him the support he needed.
“Brady is doing – he’s doing OK, so that operation went well,” said Koehler. “He ended up needing two different blood transfusions. His red blood cell count was very, very life-threateningly low, so he was very anemic.”
Koehler said Brady still has a long road to recovery.
“He is by no means out of the woods yet,” she said. “This case, because of the tetanus, he just requires around-the-clock nursing care, so he probably won’t be ready to ‘leave’ our [intensive care unit] until at least seven to 10 more days.”
A nonprofit called the Brady Hunter Foundation is pledging $5,000 to cover part of the dog’s surgical expenses.
