Please Help Us Help Carter (some nasty pics)

This is Carter. He was caught up in the middle of a land dispute that culminated in one party having Carter’s back feet almost severed with a machete as a warning to his owners.

Left alone to fend for himself, Carter was fortunate to be spotted by a caring neighbour who called in Animals Taiwan, who immediately came to pick up the poor dog, who’s legs were atrophied and feet severely infected.

Weak and no longer wanting to eat, Carter literally gave himself to his rescuers, and allowed us to move him to a vet for emergency treatment without even a hint of protest.

Sadly, after second and third veterinary opinions, it’s clear that Carter must have both back legs amputated.

He was becoming anaemic and weaker by the minute, so he was rushed to a Dr Chen on Chang An E. Rd, a vet who we knew had the expertise to perform the difficult operation. Both legs will be removed at the hip; experience has shown us that leaving a stump with double-rear-leg amputations just creates more problems later, as the stumps tend to scrape on the ground, causing infection.

At the time of writing and posting these images, Carter was going under anaesthetic. We all have our fingers crossed that the operations to remove the first leg goes well.

Carter will need extensive care after surgery and then a wheelchair to enable him to go on walks, but he will be able to get around using only his front two legs if our other two rear-leg amputees are anything to go by.

Please, if you would like to contribute towards the costs of Carter’s surgery, care, and wheelchair, go to donations@animalstaiwan.org for more information.

Our previous two rear-leg amputees both got adopted and are living happily and healthily in their new homes. We expect the same for Carter. We never put an animal to sleep unless their suffering is great and likely never to end.

We hope to regularly post more images of Carter on his road to recovery.

Thank you.

Sean

Do you know who is responsible for what happened to this dog?

One of the neighbours knows but likely won’t tell. I’m pretty sure we couldn’t mount a solid case against the perp anyway.

I’d like to see Animals Taiwan become something like the RSPCA in England, something like an animal police force, backed up by the police. I’d love for us to be able to go after the people who do these disgustingly cruel and cowardly acts against animals.

JEEEEEEEEZUS :fume:

Damned…“Say nothing” attitude.
…too bad you guys and LCO can’t get together on this one… or can you? Perp could get a $1000000.00NT fine for that despicable crime.

yeah…I’ve got one with 3 legs…had he lost two…I would have held him as I put him down and cried like a baby. May he have better luck in the next life.
edit:
Dammit…just watched the video of Sugar…f*cking TEARS!!!

How’d the surgery go?

Two-legged dogs have just as good a quality of life as any other. Any dog who is not in great pain and who enjoys attention and food and walks and play is not going to be better off dead.

It’s dogs like Carter who hit hearts the most and bring in the funds that cover not only their costs but also those of their less seriously injured counterparts. Sugar was our most expensive rescue ever, and she has inspired so many people to donate or help similar dogs themselves that we know these cases to be, for want of a better term, a great investment, ones that bring in a huge return. And I’m eternally grateful that that’s the way it is.

Update:

I’m overjoyed to tell you that Dr Chen, reluctant to remove Carter’s legs, tried something a little different last night and instead removed most of the feet but left the largest, central pad on both, folding in the remaining skin and stitching to the base of the legs. Effectively, Carter has pads but no feet - this is so much better than having his legs amputated, as the surgery for that is long and difficult and can result in a huge loss of blood. It also means he’ll never need a wheelchair to get around, but will instead have a strange walk - a small price to pay for greater mobility.

I called this morning, and Carter is doing OK but we have to wait and see; he’s not out of the woods yet. He’s still not eating. I’ll go see him tonight. I have taken some pics of him post op and will do my best to get those up today.

Many thanks for your interest and support!

Sean

You are absolutely right.

Thank you for reminding me.
Your address please?
I have NO use for two blenders, and would not have thought of it had you not stated you needed one for the compassionate work you guys are doing.

Love and hugs to Carter and wishing him a speedy recovery.

I say put pressure on the person who knows something.

Wow, thats great that the vet tried something different. Maybe you can put those doggy booties on him? How is he doing now?

[quote=“Stray Dog”]One of the neighbours knows but likely won’t tell. I’m pretty sure we couldn’t mount a solid case against the perp anyway.

I’d like to see Animals Taiwan become something like the RSPCA in England, something like an animal police force, backed up by the police. I’d love for us to be able to go after the people who do these disgustingly cruel and cowardly acts against animals.[/quote]

You might think about finding an ambitious ‘investigative reporter’ who is ready to pull some ‘Geraldo Revera’ sh*t in pursuit of stuff like this. Done well, this type of reporting makes for great entertainment, and gets the point across quickly. Local news is such crap here, it would be an intelligent gambit on the reporter’s part, and go a long way toward raising awareness. Not to mention you’d be practically feeding the story to them anyway, how much easier does it get?

A bone for you to chew on Dog …