We’re happy to report that Peggy the badly injured dog who was treated at the IAR clinic and then became a permanent resident at the centre, has found a new and loving home in the nearby village of Saligao.
Peggy was picked up by the IAR drivers and admitted at the centre in Assagao on 12 September 2007. She had been in a terrible road accident and had a badly fractured leg and a big wound on the side of her body. A family in the village had been looking after her and they called the rescue team. Upon arriving at the centre there was much debate among the vets about Peggy’s options: they could try to save the leg by inserting pins and wait for the fracture to close. The other option was to amputate the leg. Either option would involve major orthopaedic surgery but, although a leg amputation always raises questions of the dog’s ability to fend for itself on the street, it was considered to be Peggy’s best option – after all she did have a local family keeping an eye on her. The fracture was multiple and trying to insert pins was likely to do more harm than good in the long run.
After the surgery it was vital that Peggy got as much bed rest as possible so the wound could heal. But it was impossible to explain this to an animal. Peggy in particular was making things hard for herself because she was such an active and happy dog, even with all her injuries, and she kept jumping around excitedly in her pen whenever the volunteers came to sit with her. She was still not used to having to balance on three legs and kept falling over, causing her stitches to come undone. Hence the recovery time became very long for her.
At Christmas Peggy was ready to be released. However sadly the family who had been looking after her no longer wanted her back. Owing to her condition and the fact that previously she had been relying on others to feed her it was not safe for her to be released to fend for herself. During her time as IAR’s patient she had won over so many people and it was decided to keep her at the centre and make her part of the centre dog gang. Peggy settled in straight away and made lots of friends both 2- and 4-legged.
In July 2008 Peggy captured the heart of a local resident in Goa from England, Jan Haines. She has a house in Saligao and was immediately taken by Peggy’s charm and quirky personality. She asked if she could adopt her and Peggy is now living a 5 star life with Jan and her other dog Tess in the village of Saligao. A group of volunteers went to meet Jan and Peggy and saw first hand what a great life she has. She is well cared for, has a 4-legged companion and plenty of space to run around and go crazy.
It is just wonderful to see cases that appear to be without much hope initially turn themselves around and become happy endings. Without caring staff and volunteers and animal lovers like Jan most dogs like Peggy would die in terrible agony from their injuries. Instead, thanks to everyone’s efforts, she now enjoys a better life than she ever could have imagined just one year ago.