Today I rescued a dog
and could see something moving, dangling over in the bush out off to the side of the road. It looked like a dog hanging somehow from some wooden structure.
I was going slowly, so I stopped the car pulling onto the edge of the verge. I walked back to see more clearly. At first I thought it was a dog hangling by its teeth - you know how some dogs like to bite hold of something like a rope swing and swing around suspended by their teeth. But no, this wasn't quite like that. I couldn't really see at first but as I got closer I could see there was a rickety old wooden person bridge over a creek. The dog was hanging, trapped by its left forearm, dangling from the wooden bridge about 1m above the nearly dry creek bed.
It was a biggish dog, a kind of mungral golden labrador type thing, chunky. In fact I'd seen it on my way out to the beach about an hour or two earlier. It had been sitting at the side of the road liking its balls, as they do.
Occasionally the dog tried to struggle to free itself. But it was suspended in mid air and had nothing to push against to get leverage, so no way to free the trapped forearm. It was obviously getting weak. Made no sound.
I called out trying to raise anyone in the few nearby properties within earshot. There were a few with cars, but no one appeared even when I beeped my car horn a number of times.
So there was nothing for it. I couldn't leave the dog hanging there. I had to get up close to see if there was some way I could release it.
I climbed over the wooden sty over the wire fence and onto the start of the poorly maintained wooden plank bridge. There were lots of missing planks and it really didn't fill me with confidence. I gingerly proceeded to over the creek where the dog was suspended. Somehow it had managed to get its forearm firmly trapped between two bits of wood, and the weight of the animal was acting like a lever so there was no way it could have freed itself.
I had to feel along to see how much of the forearm was under the planks of the bridge. I could just reach the paw. I knew it was going to hurt the dog to try to move the limb to the side in order to release it. But it was clear the dog's shoulder was already dislocated as it had struggled to free itself. So a quick movement was going to be the best option.
I had no way of going below the animal and lifting it up to release the limb. That would have been the best, but I wasn't tall enough or strong enough to do such a thing. So my only option was to release the trapped limb and let the poor injured animal drop the 1 - 1.5m to the creek bed below. Hoping it could land on its back legs or something - like cats.
I quickly moved the limb to the side thus releasing the trapped forearm. The dog fell to the ground. It was clearly exhausted and in a lot of pain. I could clearly see the badly dislocated left forearm. The dog just lay there panting. Clearly in too much pain try to move.
I didn't feel there was much more I could do. I didn't really want to go down off the bridge and get near the animal just incase it lashed out at me in pain. I'm not a dog person. I just hope it didn't break its back or cause too much more damage in the fall. It didn't whine, it just lay there panting.
I knew all I could do now was go and get professional help for it. So I left it there under the wooden bridge and drove home and phoned the SPCA. Hopefully they will be able to do something to help it. But it was difficult to explain exactly where the animal was!
I left a note in a nearby postbox, saying what I'd found and that I'd released the dog and that it was lying there. I ended the note with Get Help. So hopefully when the resident comes home they will get the note and find the dog. Maybe by then the dog will have regained some strength and hobbled off somewhere else. I don't know. But I feel I did all I could. I couldn't leave a dog dangling from a bridge! No camera, so no photo's.
But I still feel bad that I couldn't do more, and I feel the pain of the animal.
I bet the SPCA woman on the phone thought that I'd hit the dog with the car or something. It just didn't sound like a plausable story!! Even to me! I was surprised at how upset by it all I was. What do you think?
I was going slowly, so I stopped the car pulling onto the edge of the verge. I walked back to see more clearly. At first I thought it was a dog hangling by its teeth - you know how some dogs like to bite hold of something like a rope swing and swing around suspended by their teeth. But no, this wasn't quite like that. I couldn't really see at first but as I got closer I could see there was a rickety old wooden person bridge over a creek. The dog was hanging, trapped by its left forearm, dangling from the wooden bridge about 1m above the nearly dry creek bed.
It was a biggish dog, a kind of mungral golden labrador type thing, chunky. In fact I'd seen it on my way out to the beach about an hour or two earlier. It had been sitting at the side of the road liking its balls, as they do.
Occasionally the dog tried to struggle to free itself. But it was suspended in mid air and had nothing to push against to get leverage, so no way to free the trapped forearm. It was obviously getting weak. Made no sound.
I called out trying to raise anyone in the few nearby properties within earshot. There were a few with cars, but no one appeared even when I beeped my car horn a number of times.
So there was nothing for it. I couldn't leave the dog hanging there. I had to get up close to see if there was some way I could release it.
I climbed over the wooden sty over the wire fence and onto the start of the poorly maintained wooden plank bridge. There were lots of missing planks and it really didn't fill me with confidence. I gingerly proceeded to over the creek where the dog was suspended. Somehow it had managed to get its forearm firmly trapped between two bits of wood, and the weight of the animal was acting like a lever so there was no way it could have freed itself.
I had to feel along to see how much of the forearm was under the planks of the bridge. I could just reach the paw. I knew it was going to hurt the dog to try to move the limb to the side in order to release it. But it was clear the dog's shoulder was already dislocated as it had struggled to free itself. So a quick movement was going to be the best option.
I had no way of going below the animal and lifting it up to release the limb. That would have been the best, but I wasn't tall enough or strong enough to do such a thing. So my only option was to release the trapped limb and let the poor injured animal drop the 1 - 1.5m to the creek bed below. Hoping it could land on its back legs or something - like cats.
I quickly moved the limb to the side thus releasing the trapped forearm. The dog fell to the ground. It was clearly exhausted and in a lot of pain. I could clearly see the badly dislocated left forearm. The dog just lay there panting. Clearly in too much pain try to move.
I didn't feel there was much more I could do. I didn't really want to go down off the bridge and get near the animal just incase it lashed out at me in pain. I'm not a dog person. I just hope it didn't break its back or cause too much more damage in the fall. It didn't whine, it just lay there panting.
I knew all I could do now was go and get professional help for it. So I left it there under the wooden bridge and drove home and phoned the SPCA. Hopefully they will be able to do something to help it. But it was difficult to explain exactly where the animal was!
I left a note in a nearby postbox, saying what I'd found and that I'd released the dog and that it was lying there. I ended the note with Get Help. So hopefully when the resident comes home they will get the note and find the dog. Maybe by then the dog will have regained some strength and hobbled off somewhere else. I don't know. But I feel I did all I could. I couldn't leave a dog dangling from a bridge! No camera, so no photo's.
But I still feel bad that I couldn't do more, and I feel the pain of the animal.
I bet the SPCA woman on the phone thought that I'd hit the dog with the car or something. It just didn't sound like a plausable story!! Even to me! I was surprised at how upset by it all I was. What do you think?