Miley was bitten by a Boomslang and desperately needed anti-venom; a group of people rallied to get the medicine to Somerset West where Miley was waiting.
Somerset West, South Africa (05 February 2024) – One-year-old Golden Labrador Miley got a big scare when she was bitten by a Boomslang. The snake is highly venomous and time was of the essence for Miley to get treated with an anti-venom. We spoke with Miley’s mom Desiré about the harrowing ordeal and how her community united to get the anti-venom from North West to the Western Cape.
Desiré shared that they didn’t know exactly when Miley had been bitten but that the very next day they found the Boomslang in the garden and immediately jumped into action.
“We aren’t sure exactly what transpired but she was bitten on a Friday on our farm in Cape Town, however, we weren’t aware until the next day when we became increasingly worried about a puncture wound on her neck that wouldn’t stop bleeding. Shortly thereafter, we found a Boomslang in the garden and realized she’d been bitten. We immediately rushed her to the vet and she deteriorated quickly from Saturday onwards.”
While at the vet, the message was sent out for help accessing anti-venom. Before long, a vial was found at the Hartebeespoort Dam Snake and Animal Park. Their team got the vial to Lanseria Airport in Gauteng, where it was handed over to someone, a stranger to the family, who would transport it to Cape Town.
Given that the family had been told there was a shortage of anti-venom and to brace for the worst, they were so happy to have even just one vial.
“We immediately began the search for anti-venom and reached out to multiple people in hope they could help us. They, in turn, reached out to their contacts, and we soon had an entire community trying to track down a vial of anti-venom for Miley.”
“Fortunately, my husband was able to find a single vial of anti-venom from Jason Seale at Hartbeespoort Snake and Animal Park who quickly arranged for it to be sent to Lanseria airport. We had a dear friend ready and waiting at Lanseria for the anti-venom and whilst he worked on getting the meds through security clearance, we began the frantic search to find someone who would be willing to transport it with them from Lanseria to Cape Town.
I posted a plea on two social media networks, and with the help of family, friends, neighbours, and our community, our plea spread across the country very quickly. We were soon contacted by a stranger who’d seen our plea and was about to board a flight to Cape Town.
Thanks to the kindness and quick actions of everyone involved, Miley received her life-saving medication within four hours of our plea. Time was critical as she’d already started bleeding from her nose and she was deteriorating rapidly. All in all, her meds changed hands seven times before reaching her, most of whom were strangers to us, a true testament of so much goodness and kindness.”
Miley has recovered well, she is almost back to her excited and happy self. She did have nightmares, but those are going away now, too. She is back to eating, swimming and spending time with her humans.
“In the days that followed, we also had numerous people reaching out to check on her. We are so grateful for all the messages of love, concern, and advice and to every single person who helped us help Miley. With everyone’s combined efforts, our beautiful puppy is back home with us. She’s such a special part of our family and we all love her so much. What a relief and blessing that we still get to enjoy her.”
We asked Desiré if she had any advice for people searching for anti-venom.
“Lean on your community, friends and neighbours – they are a powerful source of help when needed! At the time of Miley’s incident, we felt so incredibly helpless, but a quick message asking for help that I tearfully wrote on the way back from the vet spread far and wide within minutes, and it’s because of all these beautiful people that our precious pup is still alive.”
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