Dog makes 'miracle recovery' after deer attack in Bushy Park

Rory, a five-year-old Samoyed, was being walked by owner David Maloney when a wild red deer burst out of a patch of bracken and butted him into the air.

David rushed the stricken pooch to a vet who carried out an x-ray to reveal Rory had suffered a punctured lung and bruising to his heart.

The dog spent three days in intensive care at Vet4Life in South West London after the freak attack in Bushy Park, Teddington, earlier this month.

Despite his near-fatal injuries, Rory made a full recovery and David, 53, is now warning pet owners to careful when walking near deer.

The IT worker said: “I was walking Rory in nearby Bushy Park, as I normally do, when suddenly, out of nowhere, a female deer charged out of the bracken and chased Rory.

“Rory turned and ran past me to try and get away and I immediately put my arms out to try to stop the deer getting after him, but she just galloped by.

“I watched in horror as she chased him down but when he veered left and out of sight, I thought she had missed him.

“When I reached him, Rory was clearly traumatised, however, when I checked him over there were no marks and I couldn’t feel any lumps or swellings.

“So initially it didn’t appear he’d been hit, although he was very slow on the walk home and very quiet when we got back.

“The next day my wife Angela and two of our sons, Conor and Finn, were very concerned about Rory’s breathing and rang Vet4Life and explained what had happened.

“They said to take him in immediately as they feared something was very wrong.”

Elle de Juniac, head vet at Vet4Life’s Teddington practice, said: “Rory was lethargic and breathing abnormally fast when he arrived here.

“We did a blood test to gather information on his internal systems, which came back as normal, so we needed to investigate further.

“Chest x-rays were taken and revealed a pneumothorax, a condition where the lung collapses, mostly due to a trauma, which alters the pressure in the chest.

“This means the lung cannot fully inflate and the body doesn’t receive as much oxygen, which explains why he was breathing abnormally - his body was adapting to this oxygen shortage by breathing faster.

“An ultrasound of Rory’s chest and abdomen showed there was no other trauma, so we focused on solving the pneumothorax problem.

“By inserting a tube into the chest, we were able to remove the air which had built up around the lungs, helping to restore the normal pressure of the chest and allowing the lung to inflate again.

“We then repeated the chest x-rays with a much-improved result and breathing pattern for Rory.

“Rory was very brave and after two days of having his chest drained of any excess air, the tube was removed.

“Nine days after the attack, and with checks every two days, Rory had made a full recovery and is now back to his normal, happy self.”

David added: “We dog owners should not forget we need to be cautious when there are deer around, too. Sometimes we can become a little complacent but Rory’s experience shows we always need to be vigilant.

“Rory’s a Samoyed so is a reasonably sized dog weighing 23 kilos but he’s nothing compared to a fully grown female red deer standing 4ft tall at the shoulder, so if she’d really connected with him, who knows what damage would have been done.

“Yes, deer are wonderful animals and we want to enjoy seeing them in our parks, but we must all remember that they are wild animals and every now and then there are incidents with pets and members of the public. We need to be alert and take care.”