16 May 2016
WVS vet Cait Finnegan shares her account of treating a dog that received a neck injury after having a choke collar embedded into its neck.
Worldwide Veterinary Service
Job Title
An embedded collar receiving treatment.
Our team of vets and veterinary nurses in Malawi are as busy as ever, but one of our fantastic vets, Cait Finnegan, has taken the time to share her account of treating a dog that received a neck injury after having a choke collar embedded into its neck.
As you can see from the photos, the injury was quite severe and was causing the dog considerable pain and irritation.
Cait recalls: “We has been alerted to a location that was reported to have more than 60 dogs on one individual property.
“A large proportion of these dogs were roaming freely in and out of the property gates, which was causing concern among the locals, who tried to avoid walking past this house for fear of getting bitten.
“After deploying a vet to assess the situation, it transpired there were 16 adult dogs and more than 40 puppies – so, the idea was to arrange a sterilisation plan for the adult dogs at our sterilisation and neutering clinic.”
She said: “While appraising the dogs, it was quickly observed that one of the dogs had a large choke collar embedded into her neck.
“The dog was was brought back to the Blantyre SPSCA (where the WVS and BSPCA vets were working in Malawi) and was quickly sterilised, vaccinated against rabies and received treatment for their horrible neck wounds.”
As you can see from the photo below, the dog is now back to normal and is happy and healthy.
The dog has since received three weeks’ worth of veterinary treatment (including antibiotics and wound dressings), which has allowed it’s neck wound to heal almost completely.
