Hucknall vet came to dog's rescue after he was almost strangled in freak accident

While being taken for a walk, the dog, Shiner, suddenly chased after a cat and pulled his lead out of the owner's hand.

The lead tightened when caught under a tyre of a passing car and caused the fracture to the dog's neck, almost strangling him.

Shiner was rushed to East Midlands Referrals, of Nottingham Road, Hucknall where he underwent emergency surgery, carried out by senior vet Graham Oliver and three of his staff.

Graham said Shiner was in danger of suffering permanent paralysis as a result of the accident.

The dog was put in traction for the 'very complex' surgery, which took approximately two-and-a-half hours.

But the operation proved so successful that Shiner was able to trot out of the surgery quite happily.

Graham said: “This is the type of surgery I perform but this was a particularly severe and challenging one.

"I did not expect to be operating on him as by some miracle he was able to walk beforehand, albeit slowly, so it wasn’t until after the scan that we realised it was imperative to operate, or as he started to recover he would have moved more and potentially precipitated a catastrophic event where he would have become completely paralysed or suffered respiratory failure.

“As such we were all up to gone 3am to facilitate his surgery.”

The dog's owner, who lives in the Birmingham area, was full of gratitude for the vets' amazing skills.

Graham says his desire to become a vet goes back to his childhood and his love of ‘creepy crawlies’ and Gerald Durrell books.

He said: “Plus the influence of a few key adults, my father, biology teacher who allowed me to look after all the lab creatures, locusts, fish, rats, salamanders, turtles, and a retired nurse who bought me the books and assisted me with animal first aid and minor surgery as a youngster.”

Graham’s advice to dog owners is to make sure they are insured so you are able to help them if the worst happens and to maintain control as dogs, particularly Greyhounds, are likely to chase small creatures.

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