Northern Ont. dog airlifted to animal hospital for surgery following encounter with moose
Al Corbould had just returned to his cottage north of Kirkland Lake, for the first time in a year with his 11-year-old golden retriever, Hunter.
"He was back in the bush maybe 100 yards, maybe 200, and he just got into a real fit of frenzy back there -- just a terrible sound that he was making, barking…not barking, but whining and there was no question there was a problem," Corhould said.
He began franticly searching for Hunter when he ran into a calf moose that he estimates to be about a month old. Corbould decided to return to his cottage and that is where he found his dog bleeding from the mouth.
He figures the dog was kicked in the face by a cow moose that was protecting its young. "A moose protecting a calf, they’d flat out kill you. So, yeah, he’s probably lucky that there were not other injuries involved," said Dr. PJ Rocheleau, from the Espanola Animal Hospital.
After a visit to the vet in Timmins, it was determined that the impact was enough to break Hunter’s jaw and would need surgery.
Dr. Rocheleau is the only veterinarian in northern Ontario that can perform this surgery, so the owners had to make some unique travel arrangements in order to fix the problem Friday.
"I called up my friends at Expedition Helicopters in Cochrane and -- I used to be their CFO and worked with them for years -- and they very graciously said 'we can do it, we can get him down there by 5 o'clock,'" said Peggy Lainklater, Corbould’s wife.
"We have dogs flown in here all the time but I don’t remember one ever landing in a helicopter across the street before," Rocheleau said.
If Hunter hadn’t arrived so quickly he would have had to wait until Tuesday to correct the problem. The couple said since they don't have pet insurance, they will pay all of the costs out-of-pocket.
"You know, he’s part of our family, what could we do? You know all of the kids are grown up and living on their own now -- the children, the great-grandchildren, and so on -- but Hunter’s part of us, you can’t just throw them away," said Lainklater.
Now the recovery process begins said Rocheleau.
"I’m sure within a few days he’ll pretty well be back to normal. The jaw actually heals pretty quick. It will take about six weeks, maybe eight in his case because he’s a little older dog, and then you’ll have solid bone there and it will be like it never happened," he said.
The couple lives in Cochrane and will need to travel to Timmins three times a week over the next two months or so so that Hunter can receive laser therapy to aid in his recovery. He is also on special medications and requires ice packs to be applied several times a day.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
7 surveillance videos linked to extortions of South Asian home builders in Edmonton released
The Edmonton Police Service has released a number of surveillance videos related to a series of extortion cases in the city now dubbed 'Project Gaslight.'
Ukraine uses long-range missiles secretly provided by U.S. to hit Russian-held areas, officials say
Ukraine for the first time has begun using long-range ballistic missiles provided secretly by the United States, bombing a Russian military airfield in Crimea last week and Russian forces in another occupied area overnight, American officials said Wednesday.