Posted on 09/26/2010 2:15:07 PM PDT by JoeProBono
DETROIT, - A dog has paid a heavy physical price for protecting his owner from a rattlesnake, his Michigan owner says.
Kodi, a 3-year-old Samoyed, saved Brenda Lacroix of Davisburg from an Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake during a June walk in Shiawassee Basin Park in Springfield Township, Lacroix told the Detroit Free Press.
"This thing flew at his face," said Lacroix, a retired veterinary technician. "It was 3 1/2 feet long and the width of my arm."
Lacroix rushed Kodi's sagging body to her former employer as his face started to swell, and then the dog passed out.
While one veterinarian stabilized Kodi, another tried to find viper anti-venom, which blocks the proteins that destroy blood vessels and cause internal bleeding.
The Detroit Zoo finally came through with five vials of expired anti-venom, no longer usable on humans.
Over five hours, Kodi took the anti-venom through an IV. Lacroix and Kodi have not been back to the park since.
Since the encounter, Kodi has lost control of an eyelid, drools and can't handle hot weather.
"Some days, I look at him and my heart breaks, and some days I look at him and think, 'What a brave boy,' " Lacroix said.
Ooops I meant the election day round up across the nation where we kick the two legged snakes out..
I tend to put snakes in the same category as scorpions, gila monsters, and possums. That category being “Things that would make good target practice for my Mossberg.”
Heck yeah!
Take that, you damned possums! :-)
Yeah, I thought that was what you meant. The worst kind of snakes, the ones with the ability to charm.
I don't think they normally produce anti-venom for pets. Only humans.
Good dog. I wonder how they wandered into danger.
In 30 years in Michigan, I only saw one rattlesnake in the wild. It was a teeny, tiny thing maybe 10 inches long. Snakes weren’t unusual in the orchard where I worked, but most of ‘em boogied before I could get a good look at ‘em.
When I was a boy I had a paper route. At the top of one street a customer had a beautiful Samoyed named Charlie. Charlie would wait for me to show up on my bicycle every day and I would pet and scratch him.
One day as I started up the street, two large German Shepherd dogs charged me with ill intent. From far up the street came Charlie, who chased away the two dogs.
I love Samoyeds.
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