The dog that was walking around the compound of the Leguan hospital with a fishing hook in its right hind leg has finally gotten relief after a rehabilitation assistant mustered the courage to remove it.
Marica Mc Curius, who is attached to the hospital, said she was very sad to see the dog suffering because it had become a part of their family at the hospital.
Stabroek News had highlighted the story earlier this month after it witnessed the dog standing at the doorway crying softly and lifting the leg.
The dog was said to be hurt in a deliberate act. Another dog had died after its tongue got caught with a fishing hook.
Shortly after the story was published, Mc Curius, whose job entails physiotherapy and occupational and speech therapy, said she could no longer see the dog suffer and “my nurse aide mode kicked in.”
Asked why she had not done it before, she said her colleagues had tried but the dog got scared and “retaliated.”
She told this newspaper too: “First, I had to gain his trust. It’s not easy to get a free spirit animal to submit too you. I had to be consistent in feeding him and giving him love and attention.”
She said too that the hook “took a long time to remove as it was deeply embedded into his flesh. I had to give him little massage to make him more comfortable with me.”
She said the dog had gotten “very thin and was in pain, was hungry and could not sleep well. How can people be so evil to God’s creation? The dog has been receiving a lot of love and food from myself and my colleagues.”
Mc Curius related that, “Presently, he is the happiest soul… He is now able to follow me to the nearest shop or halfway home.”
The woman loves animals and said proudly that she is the owner of four dogs, four foster kittens and a rabbit.
She was very emotional when the other dog that got hooked on its tongue, died. She also recalled: “One of my dogs had hooks stuck in both side of her jaws. I managed to take out one but the vet had to remove the other one. The dog was pregnant at that time too.”
She believes some people would deliberately set the hooks in the meat as bait to hurt the animals or to get rid of them.
She said that “on many occasions I would pass a stray pup, or kitten walking on the road, left for dead.”
She said that Leguan is badly in need of an animal shelter.
“I honestly wish someone would donate a plot of land to build one where strays can be rescued and taken care of. They would also get to be neutered or spayed to decrease the amount of strays,” she told this newspaper.
Meanwhile, after the story was published also, some kindhearted persons offered to help the dog, including Dr. Chin-See.
Members of Paws for a Cause, an animal rescue group also made a trip to Leguan to help the dog and was happy that it was doing well.
They also met with Mc Curius and was happy that she took the hook out.
She told this newspaper, “my dream job is to become a vet.” She was happy that we were highlighting “my story to bring awareness to animal cruelty… I hope it inspires the country to be better keepers of the creatures of God…”
