Six-month-old dog struck by car, but on the road to recovery

A month ago, Eva the Labrador was in great pain.

The six month old dog was reported to the St. Charles Parish Animal Shelter as loose on Old Spanish Trail. It took almost a complete day to locate her, and when she was finally spotted the news was not good: she had been struck by a car and badly injured.

When she arrived at the animal shelter, her entire right hind leg and belly had painful open wounds and road rash that required intensive management daily by the shelter’s staff. Her leg needed an X-ray, as Eva had no ability to use the limb. Worst of all, despite the shelter having a veterinarian available for medical care for the shelter’s residents, there wasn’t a clear avenue to give Eva the help she needed – even though it was the shelter’s intention to do whatever it could to provide just that.

“There are some equipment and capabilities we do not have, and community donations supplement our more intense medical cases,” said Dr. Jena Troxler, St. Charles Parish animal control supervisor. “We treat them because they can be normal and live long lives, so they’re worth the investment.”

But on Monday, Eva underwent successful surgery thanks to a nonprofit that saw her case more than a worthy cause. Turning Rescues Into Pets, or TRIP, offers regular volunteering efforts with the shelter and elected to provide the funding needed to get Eva fixed up: the organization paid for her X-ray, which revealed Eva would need to undergo surgery for a dislocated and displaced hip caused by the impact of the car that struck her.

The surgery was a specialized orthopedic procedure, as the injury to Eva’s hip resulted in a non-functional joint.

TRIP [pullquote][/pullquote]quickly elected to pay for the surgery as well, raising the money needed to correct the problem. The timing was important, as the sooner it could be done, the better the chances of avoiding complications and restoring Eva’s mobility and comfort.

“Our community came through with donations to fund her care and we sought a good veterinarian surgeon to come to the shelter for her procedure,” Troxler said. “By using our facility and his expertise, we were able to get the most care for her at an extremely reasonable price.”

Eva’s surgery was performed by Derek Kopeky of Louisiana Mobile Veterinary Surgery, with assistance from shelter staff members. Troxler said the surgery created a “beautiful outcome” for the black lab, who is officially on the road to recovery.

“She’ll need two weeks of strict rest and then she’ll begin shelter staff guided therapy,” Troxler said. “Her ability to regain muscle strength and walk should be back to her new normal within 3 months.”

It’s a happy result for Eva, one of several recent cases the shelter has taken on of late, including three major medical cases in the past month.

“We always accept and are grateful for any resources provided to us that is a joint effort to provide the best care and outcome for our shelter residents,” Troxler said. “Our overall goal is to get them well and healed and into wonderful homes as soon as possible. Our community and nationwide support helps us to do just that.”