From CARE – Cayman Animal Rescue Enthusiasts

Teddy’s Story!

We received a call over two weeks ago now regarding a very, very scared dog that has a gaping hole around his neck due to an embedded collar. Sadly it seems Teddy had been roaming around West Bay for the past 5 months but was too afraid to come near people and the lady that was trying to help him had exhausted all of her appeals for assistance and could not get anyone to come out and help this little guy. She was given our number from a Spay and Neuter leaflet drop we did a couple of months ago in West Bay. All we knew is that we needed to get Teddy into the vet and then we would asses the situation from there. We just could not leave him in this state suffering with so much pain and trauma due to his injury which inevitably would eventually have taken his life.

So we set up a trap to try and lure Teddy – but our boy was far too smart for that and whilst if proved to be a great spot to hang out for several West Bay dogs to stop by and grab a Wendy’s burger this was not helping young Ted.   So on Sunday 7th December we got a group together and decided we were going to try and Corral him, we knew just by the smell of rotten flesh that he was getting desperate and we could not risk another week of trying to see if we trap him.   Fortunately luck and a wonderful man was on our side and we managed to get Teddy into the trap and on his way to Island Vet to see what his prognosis would be.

Dr Brenda estimates Teddy to be approximately 12 months old. Asides from his horrific neck wound, he is otherwise in decent shape, which surely is thanks to the wonderful lady that was his voice – calling for help to so many people and ensuring he always had food.   He is heartworm negative and is now neutered and vaccinated.   His wound is going to take months of care and healing.   He has already had several surgeries to his neck and Dr John was very skillful and did a wonderful job on closing up the large wound and ensuring drainage for proper healing.   We are fully aware that Teddy is extremely fortunate as the incision was getting frighteningly close to his jugular and Dr Brenda feels that given another week or two out on the streets he would most definitely not have made it.

The following video – whilst extremely graphic and some may find the images disturbing, it does demonstrates the horrendous suffering that was caused to this dog due to an act of pure neglect. At one time this little guy belonged to someone, as a puppy this person had placed a black collar with a plastic clip buckle around his neck and that is where the care seems to have stopped. As Teddy grew the collar got tighter and tighter until his neck started growing around the collar and eventually embed itself into his neck.   Sadly it seems that Teddy was discarded and thrown out like an old toy. No longer of interest or entertainment an annoying accessory that costs money and takes up too much time. Poor Teddy not only suffered physically with the horrendous neck injury but due to the lack of care our boy is extremely shy and fearful of people and it is now going to take a lot of work to help him psychologically get over this fear and be able to be “Man’s best friend” as they saying goes.

To see video of Teddy Embedded Collar Injury go to www.caymancare.ky

But in spite of everything he has endured, Teddy, like most dogs, holds no grudges. Whilst he is still very shy and fearful, as the days pass by and the wonderful love and care this boy is receiving from the fantastic folks at Island Vet we can most definitely see that he, very slowly is getting more and more curious about the new world he is experiencing and just yesterday we witnessed him taking food out of Jennie’s hand. His eyes are so forgiving and offer us so much hope, because they seem to say to us – i want to be your friend, I’m just not sure how right now.

Check out Teddy’s progress as he made it onto the news on Cayman 27 by clicking here: http://www.cayman27.com.ky/2014/12/17/new-lease-of-life-for-teddy

Teddy has a long road ahead of him, he has a few dedicated people who go to visit him on a daily basis to help work with him showing him most people are really not all that bad. His neck wound will eventually heal and whilst it is going to take months and months of rehabilitation we truly believe Teddy will one day become someone’s companion, someone’s pet and someone’s best friend and he is deserving for all of our helping hands in getting there.

So here is where we need your help.   To start with we will eventually need a fantastic foster home where Teddy can be looked after and cared for while he heals. Do you have space in your home and heart for this shy guy to come and stay for a while? We are looking for long term foster care due to the time required for his rehabilitation.   Food, and all necessary supplies will be provided for the duration of foster care. Ideally we would love to find someone who has experience with shy dogs and who has the time to commit to working with him and being such a positive change for him.

If you think you can help Teddy please E-mail [email protected] or call 938 2273, we would love to hear from you.

If you are unable to help foster then please consider helping financially, Teddy’s treatment is proving to be expensive with several surgeries to help heal that neck and we need all of the help we can find in order to be able to financially sponsor his care.

If you are unable to help with fostering or with a donation then please share this e-mail in the hope that we might be able to find the perfect foster home so we can give this boy a new start he so deserves.

His name is Teddy, because despite everything we know one day he will enjoy being cuddled and loved just like the Teddy bear he is longing to be.

If you can give Teddy a home, contact CARE on 938-2273.