Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
National
Jilly Beattie & Nia Dalton

Heartbroken vets in tears saying goodbye to puppy who suffered a 'painful death'

A team of vets are mourning the loss of a young puppy who stole everyone's hearts in just one day. Oscar the Pomeranian was less than a year old when he was found wandering the streets of Limavady, Co Derry, alone and unwell.

Oscar was taken in by North West Animal Welfare Group, where medics diagnosed him with deadly parvovirus and gave him round-the-clock emergency care. But 24 hours later, he suffered a "painful death" and there wasn't a "dry eye in the room" as he tragically passed away.

Sign up to our TeamDogs newsletter for your weekly dose of dog news, pictures and stories.

Oscar died within 24 hours of being rescued from the streets (North West Animal Welfare Group)

Now the charity is urging dog owners to set any concerns about vaccines aside and allow their dogs to be inoculated against parvovirus, Belfast Live reports.

On Wednesday, Oscar was placed in isolation and given emergency medical treatment, but by Thursday lunchtime, the poor puppy was announced dead.

Mel McKee, from the animal welfare group, said: "If Oscar had been vaccinated against this awful virus he would have likely survived but he was not, he was just left with the risk of picking it up.

"That lead to a terrible last few days and a painful death for a dog that did nothing to deserve anything but love and care."

Medics at Roe Valley Veterinary Clinic had hoped Oscar was initially showing signs of improvement, but his fight for survival didn't last long.

Mel sat by his side and raised donations to cover the cost of his treatment whilst animal lovers prayed for his recovery.

She explained: "Unfortunately Oscar deteriorated quite rapidly on Thursday afternoon. The veterinary nurses and myself watched as his breathing became too laboured.

The animal charity is urging owners to always get their dogs vaccinated (North West Animal Welfare Group)

"His gums had gone from the white to more pink and then they showed the tell-tale yellow tinge as couldn't get up to go to the bathroom anymore.

"I felt the poor pet was in terrible pain. He was just lying there when previously he had lifted his head to listen to whoever was chatting to him.

"The vets tried everything but we decided he'd had enough and no one wanted to prolong his suffering on false hope, so we sat and comforted him as he passed away with some gentle help.

"There was not a dry eye in the room.

"For such a short period of time in our care, we'd grown quickly to love Oscar and he was a popular wee dog with the vets, especially Emily Wilson, who always goes above and beyond in her role as veterinary nurse.

"We are gutted by this outcome and we will always be grateful for how Emily and the team treated wee Oscar.

"What I would say today is whatever your thoughts are on vaccines, please have your dogs vaccinated against Parvo. It is a horrible virus, it has horrible, painful and distressing symptoms and the outcome is often death.

"Parvovirus is preventable with a simple injection that every vet can administer. Please book your dog's parvo jab today or check that your dog's vaccinations are up to date."

Do you have a dog story to share? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.