This report is from our sister station WFLA in Tampa, Fla.
HUDSON. FL (WFLA) – A badly abused dog which had its nose was cut off, had the first of several surgeries Thursday.
Khalessi, named after a Game of Thrones character, underwent surgery to reconstruct her nose. The dog was found starving in Orlando recently with her entire nose cut off. Her ribs are broken and her hind legs drag behind her. Dr. Kerri Slomcenski of Hays Towne Veterinary Hospital is caring for Khalessi.
“It bothers me. Someone or something happened to her and she went through a lot of pain and no one was there to help her,” Slomcenski said. Dr. Colby Burns of the North Tampa Veterinary Specialists, a board certified surgeon, performed the surgery to give the dog a nose. The surgery took 5 hours to complete.
Colby explained, “We’re going to elevate some of this tissue and bring it around to the front to allow that to heal, while actually creating two openings so she has a nasal passage.”
Once the surgery was complete, it will allow the dog to heal for a few weeks and if the healing process goes well, they will perform the second surgery.
“After today we will see how the nostrils start to heal and then we can go in again and reconstruct what we need to. So if she really has good breathing, airways in that regard, then it’s going to be recuperation and rehabilitation time and we can start working on her legs,” Slomcenski said.
One thing is certain, there has been a lot of support from across the Tampa Bay Area and beyond. Now a dog so badly abused and left in awful shape, has turned from being man’s best friend, to have a lot of best friends of her own.
“It’s been phenomenal. I’m a one doctor practice in a small town in Hudson Florida and just blessed to have this little girl here… to be able to help her.”
