Two Husky-mix dogs are on the road to recovery after being abandoned and seriously injured by a porcupine in Prince George, B.C.
Staff at the BC SPCA’s North Cariboo community animal centre found the dogs tied to a picnic table on site on July 11, the society revealed this week.
It’s believed the dogs, who have since been named Asha and Saki, were left there in the middle of the night and interacted with a porcupine before staff arrived in the morning.
“Both Asha and Saki had porcupine quills lodged in their gums and nostrils, buried deep into the tissue,” wrote Kristen Sumner, the centre’s manager, in a news release Tuesday.
Sumner says Saki had managed to chew through her leash and could have run away, but she stayed by her sister’s side, despite being seriously injured.
The dogs required sedation so that the quills could be removed. Saki was left with wounds down the side of her face, and infected tissue on her neck and jaw. Asha was found with infected nostrils and gums, as well as a huge abscess on the top of her muzzle from a quill that had lodged into the roof of her mouth.
The BC SPCA also vaccinated and spayed the dogs, gave them deworming medication and cleaned their ears, according to Sumner.
She tells CTV News that “the girls” will hopefully be up for adoption soon.
“It all depends on how fast they heal and if any further quills come out of their skin,” wrote Sumner in an email.
“They would do well together, but they have amazing personalities and could do really well in separate homes. It all comes down to how they progress behaviourally and if they show us they are better together once their medical issues are resolved,” she added.
Sumner says that, despite the fact that the dogs were abandoned and seriously injured, they greet people with “wiggling butts.”
“They cannot wait to see you and say hello,” she said.
The North Cariboo BC SPCA is one of four locations that recently received provincial funding, and plans to use the $3 million to develop a new facility in Prince George, which will also provide regional services for the Cariboo and Northern B.C.
