Saving Wheelie
Yes I know what you are thinking. What sort of name for a dog is Wheelie? I assure you that it will become obvious.
Regular readers will know that we live in a little village a few kilometres from the town of Sitia on the island of Crete It was a day just like every other day. Drive to town, Joy has a swim, I walk the dog, a leisurely coffee, a chat and back home for lunch. This is the itinerary for most of the year, and before you say it, yes, it is boring, but at our age, we do boring quite well. Joy may require a degree of stimulation occasionally in the form of a trip out but yours truly has adapted to this lifestyle with no problems. As the road to town is narrow and twisty, driving requires a high degree of care and concentration. It was due to this very careful approach that we saw him.
Wheelie
He was a fairly large dog, but his tan colouring made him almost invisible against the foliage, but there he was, partially hidden behind a wheelie bin. Naturally, we stopped, got out and took a closer look. The dog didn’t get up but wagged his tail indicating that he was pleased to see us. As he was lying down, his deformity was not obvious, but the offer of food made him rise. As he stood, it was plain to see, he was on three legs; one front leg was twisted and looked totally unusable. Whether he was born like it or it was the result of a catastrophic occurrence, I didn’t know. He had no collar, there was nobody in the vicinity, and a check with a microchip scanner showed no microchip.
In the absence of a chip, this dog, under Greek law, was homeless. We put him on the back seat and continued to town. Joy had her swim while I waited consuming a coffee as I did, Joy then took over looking after Wheelie whilst I walked our dogs. The morning over, we returned home.
Fortunately, a visiting vet was due, and yet again, we were in the presence of the legendary veterinary surgeon known as the First One. For those who want to know more regarding the exploits of this extraordinary vet please see Saving Rufus.
The first thought was maybe to amputate the useless leg. However, careful examination of the other legs showed that two of them were also slightly damaged. This presented a major problem. If either of the other two damaged legs became lame we would end up with a lame three-legged dog. What we needed was a highly skilled, experienced orthopaedic surgeon and one who was willing to operate without charging thousands of Euros.
The search was on
The only problem was that Joy and I had to look after Wheelie whilst a suitable veterinary surgeon could be found. Now Wheelie had grown so used to managing with only three good legs he showed no inclination to make any allowances for his disability. He continued to run around, jump up without a care in the world, but I freely admit I grew alarmed when I found him on the patio table preparing to launch himself off the table. Catching him in mid-air nearly caused me to suffer a double hernia and a mild heart attack but catch him I did and resolved that we needed to reduce the risks. I just imagined having to explain why a three-legged dog suddenly became a two-legged dog!!
The days became weeks and then grew into months, and finally, a suitable veterinary surgeon was eventually found, and we said farewell to Wheelie. The parting was tinged with sadness. Wheelie had been with us for so long that we had grown to love him dearly but the permanent presence of another dog would have made it almost impossible to foster dogs in the future. We find fostering extremely difficult, and I have the utmost admiration for those who do this regularly. We only do it occasionally and only with injured or damaged dogs, but it doesn’t get any easier with the passing years.
In a magnificent piece of orthopaedic surgery, the leg was straightened and made usable.
Wheelie then required a period of recuperation and rehabilitation and was placed in a foster home with other dogs, where he slowly recovered to the point where he was ready to be rehomed.
He was eventually adopted and went from being a disabled dog living behind a wheelie bin to a loving home. I guess by now, he must be a fairly elderly gentleman. For us, it was a short but stressful time but seeing him on four legs and knowing that he has had a wonderful life has made it all worthwhile.
“If a dog will not come to you having looked you in the face you should go home and examine your conscience.”
Woodrow Wilson 1856-1924
28th President of the United States of America
Served 1913-1921