From the Jaws of Defeat

A four month old pup was surrendered when the owner found him with a broken leg after being hit by a car. The owner could not afford the cost for repair. The pup was surrendered to the Bow Valley SPCA through the auspices of the Canmore Veterinary Hospital. X-rays showed the break was so serious that repair could only be done in Calgary, by a specialist. The alternative to repairing the leg was stark--amputation or euthanasia.

As a no kill adoption centre, we have adopted a philosophy that the animals in our care should receive the highest quality of life possible--meaning amputation was not an option that we wanted to take. However, the surgery was estimated to cost over $2000, and it needed to be done immediately since the pup was growing so fast and the bones were likely to knit in the wrong position making the dog lame for life.

Western Veterinary Specialist and Emergency Centre was contacted on November 22 and the pup (Keats) was taken to Calgery on the morning of the 23rd and he was operated on that afternoon.

Why was this pup named Keats? About 5 years ago, a dog that we named Blake came to us with a horribly broken back leg that also required specialized surgery at Western Veterinary. He was a year old and we made the same decision--to save his leg and create the best opportunity for him to have a great quality of life. AND, we created the Cinderella Program for medical emergencies. Blake and Keats, in their more famous human forms were English poets, romantic poets. So Keats was named to keep up the tradition started by Blake.

By The Way: today Blake is a certified Mountain Rescue Dog who is prepared to return the favour by saving human lives. Keats is still to young to know how he will contribute to the community, but he has a wonderful disposition; just about every technician at Western Veterinary and a couple of clients got free licks from this young boy--broken leg not withstanding.