Five-year-old golden retriever Buzo was seriously injured while walking in the woods with his owner, Shwetal Dighe, and was rushed to Vets Now in Sutton for emergency surgery.
Mr Dighe, 50, a general surgeon from Reigate, said: “It’s our usual place, nothing out of the ordinary.
“He was just wandering around among the trees, and suddenly I heard a loud cry.
“There weren’t any other animals around or anything, so I called out to him, and when he came he was absolutely covered in blood with a wound near his chest, which was pumping out quite a bit of blood.”
Despite his medical training, Mr Dighe was shocked by the sight of his dog limping toward him covered in blood.
He quickly realised that Buzo had impaled himself, likely while chasing an animal.
Mr Dighe said: “He couldn’t walk, he was limping towards me.
“When I touched the area, he was crying out in pain.
“He must have chased after something and hit a branch which caused the wound.”
He immediately removed his T-shirt and used it to stem the bleeding from the 15cm wound, located near Buzo’s front right leg.
He carried the dog to the nearest road and called a friend for help.
With local veterinary practices closed for the evening, Mr Dighe contacted Vets Now, which provides out-of-hours emergency care.
Buzo was transported to their Sutton clinic, where he underwent two hours of emergency surgery.
Mr Dighe said: “They put Buzo under general anaesthetic and took him to theatre where they explored the wound, cleaned it all up from the debris, and stitched it.
“Luckily it all came together.
“They had to tie off a vein which had ruptured, but there was no damage to his chest wall.”
Buzo had already lost a significant amount of blood by the time he reached the vet.
Mr Dighe said: “If the bleeding hadn’t stopped, I thought I could have lost him.”
The family endured an anxious wait until 3am when they were told Buzo had survived the surgery.
He was able to return home the following day and made a full recovery over the next eight weeks.
Sam King, principal vet at Vets Now, said: “Seeing your dog bleeding can be very distressing.
“Buzo had a large 15cm deep wound that penetrated through from the front of his elbow, into his armpit, and down to his pectoral chest muscles.
“Buzo had complete tears to multiple muscles in his right front leg, and had completely severed a major vessel, hence the heavy bleed.”
The ordeal was especially traumatic for the family, who lost their previous dog in a road accident.
Mr Dighe said: “Golden retrievers are so loving.
“To think of losing him like that was shocking and scary.
“It was just nice to have him back.
“When he came home, it felt like our family was complete again.”
