A FIVE-MONTH-OLD puppy found on the side of the road swarming with insects and suffering serious injuries is on his way to recovery.
When Rae Ciuzelis found young Taylor lying outside a construction site three hours west of Brisbane on January 25, she feared the worst.
“There were no houses nearby, so it didn’t look like he was someone’s dog who had escaped from a yard,” Ms Ciuzelis said.
“It was so hot, probably close to 40 degrees, and he was just cooking.
“He was absolutely covered in meat ants that were burrowing into his skin, and there were flies everywhere.”
She said Taylor was also unable to move, dehydrated, starving and infested with fleas.
After pulling over her car, Ms Ciuzelis gave Taylor some water and drove him to the nearest vet, around 30 minutes away, where he was diagnosed with a broken hip, given pain relief and treated to rid him of the fleas.
Requiring around the clock care, Taylor’s recovery is now in the hands of Ms Ciuzelis and other staff at Ranc Pet Services, a doggy daycare, grooming and pet sitting business in Cleveland.
“We do quite a few rescues and we’ve had some pretty bad cases, but in terms of initial injury and palliative care, Taylor was probably the most hurt,” Ms Ciuzelis said.
“I found him at about 10 o’clock (in the morning) and I can’t imagine what he would go through if he had been there a few extra hours.”
Ms Ciuzelis said the first two days of Taylor’s care were stressful as staff waited to see if the dog would be well enough to undergo surgery.
“We wouldn’t be able to do the surgery if he couldn’t use his bowel or bladder,” she said.
“I’ve never been happier to see poop at 3:30 in the morning.
“Now that he’s gotten over that hurdle, we can go forward with planning his surgery.”
Taylor received an influx of community support when First National Real Estate Bayside set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for his surgeries.
“(The support has) been overwhelming,” Ms Ciuzelis said.
“Taylor’s story broke my heart and I can see from the donations flooding in that it is doing the same for other people.
“We’ve had people coming in and bringing towels and nappies for him, and just giving nice words.”
For more information, see the Ranc Pet Services Facebook page.
