[donate text=”Make a one-off donation now to help animals like Phoebe” source=”Phoebe”]

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Beautiful Lurcher Phoebe had a promising start in life with a lovely family. But unfortunately when a new baby arrived, her owners struggled to cope with a bouncy young dog as well as the baby so they decided to sell Phoebe when she was just 8 months old. They put an advert on Gumtree and quickly found a buyer who, at first glance, appeared to be a responsible new owner.

However, after just one week with her new owner, poor Phoebe was involved in a road traffic accident resulting in severe injuries. She was hit by a van and the force of it caused her to skid along the tarmac and sustain a large shearing injury to the outside of her right hind leg. She was left with a large open wound and the top layer of skin ripped off, as well as severe bruising and several smaller wounds to her front left elbow and inside of her left thigh. The pain she must have felt is unimaginable.

Our Vet team prepare Phoebe for surgery

Her new owner took her to the vet but when he learned the cost of the treatment, he was unwilling to pay for it. He clearly had no interest in Phoebe’s well-being, something which had not been previously apparent. He asked the vet to put her to sleep and things looked bleak for Phoebe. Luckily, the vet called us and our Animal Welfare Officers immediately stepped in and brought her to the safety of The Mayhew.

Our vet team got straight to work on cleaning the wound to her right thigh as it was heavily infected. This was through daily cleaning, flushing and debriding of the wound, daily bandage changes and using medicated honey and a special hydro gel which helps draw out the infection and prevent it from drying out. Given the area of the wound, she was in a lot of pain during this time and was given strong pain relief in order to keep her comfortable. Urinating and defecating were very uncomfortable for her.

“Once the wound was clean enough to attempt closure, we were able to surgically close the wound using a technique where the excess skin is pulled across the open wound using tagging sutures or stitches and then closed using staples,” explains Mayhew Vet, Dr Áine Macguire. “This has been very successful for Phoebe and after spending a month on our hospital ward; her wound began to heal well.”

Phoebe’s wound was first closed with staples

She has been an incredibly brave girl throughout the whole process and, slowly but surely, this gorgeous girl is getting back on all four paws again. Now that she is fully recovered, she is available for adoption to find her forever home. We are confident that Phoebe will be third time lucky and finally get the family she deserves.

If you are interested in adopting Phoebe click here for more information and watch the video below to see her having fun in the park.

The Mayhew is against the pet trade on internet sites such as Gumtree where illegal breeders sell pets online, as well as through pet shops, with no concern for the welfare of the animals they sell. There are no checks on the reliability and ability of buyers to look after pets and buyers won’t be aware of the pet’s background. We believe that there needs to be tighter regulation of the pet trade as a whole and stricter monitoring of both registered and backstreet breeders.

When someone adopts a pet through The Mayhew they can be assured that the animal has been well cared for, fully vet-checked and fully assessed to ensure we match the right pet to them.

Happy, healthy and ready for her new home!

Support from people like you means that we can be there for animals like Phoebe when they need it most. Please help us to help more animals by making a donation today if you can.

£50 could provide life-saving surgical supplies for our Vet Clinic
£25 could provide vital pain medication for an injured animal
£10 could provide healthy, nutritious food for a dog for a week
£5 could provide towels and bedding for a new arrival

You can make a donation quickly and easily using the buttons below or by calling us on 020 8206 5870.

[donate text=”Make a one-off donation now to help animals like Phoebe” source=”Phoebe”]

[link type=”primary” text=”Or set up a small regular donation” url=”https://www.themayhew.org/donate/recurring-donation” type=”secondary”]

Thank you

Gillian Notton, Head of Animal Welfare