Dutch veterinarian gives second life
As she looks at you lovingly with her big blue eyes, you can sense her regained joy of life. She jumps after her ball exuberantly, without swaying or falling down. A picture that would not have been possible without the help of the animal protection organisation Kannan Animal Welfare.
But let’s start from the beginning:
Goose is a 4-month-old Siberian husky lady who was found abandoned in New Delhi, India last August. What nobody knew was that Goose is suffering from hydrocephalus. That means her body is producing too much brain fluid. As a result, she experienced coordination problems, sudden falling down, chronic headaches and epileptic tremor. If left untreated, this disease can cause brain damage and even death.
There are over 30 million wild street dogs in India and they are a subject of dispute that affects the whole nation. There are different opinions. One side wants to help the dogs, the other would like to get rid of them. In this situation, if a dog presents with unusual symptoms, the willingness of people to help is very low. For this reason, Goose was very lucky to be found by the animal welfare organisation Kannan Animal Welfare and taken to the veterinarian. After the diagnosis, it became obvious that she could not be helped in India, because neurosurgery on animals is not performed here.
However, the animal welfare organisation did not give up and contacted veterinarians all over the world. After two months there was a glimpse of hope, when Dutch veterinarian Dr. Meji, who trains veterinarians across the planet, contacted them and agreed to fly to India and take care of Goose.
Kannan Animal Welfare sponsored Dr. Meji's trip and stay and Mex Vet paid for the medical procedures.
At that time, B. Braun also became involved in the project, because a shunt system was needed for the dog. B. Braun donated an Aesculap® shunt system when they heard about the story of Goose.
On November 16, 2019 the operation took place in New Delhi under the direction of Dr. Meji.
Dr. Sharme from New Delhi, Dr. Leena Dalal from Mumbai and Dr. Laxmi Srinivasan from Hyderabad succeeded in placing the shunt system. The procedure became the first neurosurgical intervention on animals in India, which raised a lot of publicity.
Goose has recovered from the operation very well and has now good prospects for a happy and healthy life.
