Pug rescue group drove 16-hours to save a dogs life #WOW

Credit: Pug Rescue South Africa

Two volunteers flew to Cape Town to rescue a pug and then drove him back to Johannesburg for medical treatment!

Benoni, South Africa – Animal rescue volunteers are some of the greatest people on Earth. They face untold amounts of heartache dealing with abused and abandoned animals but they always rally to make sure each animal gets the best life possible.

The Pug Rescue of South Africa organisation showed just how amazing they are by flying over to Cape Town to rescue a pug that had a fractured pelvis and needed urgent medical treatment. The pug had been found in a man’s garden and he contacted the rescue group for help.

The pug was dropped off at a vet working with the rescue group so he could have his pain managed and wait to be collected by the two volunteers on their way to rescue him. The rescue group set up a plan to rescue the pug even though they are based in Johannesburg and the pug was in Cape Town.

“We have decided to name this Pug Ohana because Ohana means family and family never gets left behind or forgotten.”

The two volunteers, Kira and Andrea, set off to pick up Ohana. They flew to Cape Town, rented a car and started their long trip back to Johannesburg. They needed to drive as they didn’t have any papers for Ohana that would allow him on the plane plus they were not sure how his injuries would fair on the plane.

They made sure he was comfortable and monitored him every step of the way. They stopped at vets along the way to manage Ohana’s pain and monitor his vitals. It took the pair 16-hours to drive from Cape Town back to Johannesburg.

The volunteers drove straight to the vet when they arrived back in Johannesburg and Ohana was taken into the ICU for assessment before being operated on. The next day he was taken into theatre where a specialist worked for 5 hours to reconstruct his pelvis.

“Ohana is awake from anaesthesia and his pain is being managed. He will need to stay in ICU for a minimum of a week. We are so grateful to the extremely skilled and compassionate Professor Hartman and the rest of the Onderstepoort veterinary team who continue to work with Ohana.”

When we spoke to the organisation, they gave us the happy news that Ohana sat up all by himself today. A very welcome progress update for them and everyone following his story.

The rescue organisation will be caring for Ohana until he is well enough to find a forever home. He has a very long road to full recovery so the organisation will continue to update his progress on their Facebook page.