Patients of the Month

Jess Willson
Ryan left his farm at 8pm on Friday the 3rd of January as the fire was upon them. He managed to take the two working dogs, however couldn’t find Jess so he had to be left behind. They returned the next day to find their house and shearing shed burnt to the ground. They worked on the farm all day without seeing Jessie and came back into town that night, fearing the worst. They returned to the farm the following day and around lunch time, Jess suddenly appeared out of the rubble. Somehow, he managed to find a safe place, and despite being covered in soot and ash, he only sustained superficial burns.

Jackson Symons
Jackson is a 10-year-old retired working dog who, along with his owner and one other dog, fled from the cab of the burning ute moments after the fire front set it alight on Friday the 3rd of January. Jackson’s owner lost his home and a large number of his sheep in the fires, and believed that all 3 dogs had not survived. However, 3 days later, Jackson was reunited with his family. Jackson sustained partial to full thickness burns to all 4 of his paws, which was very painful and he was struggling to walk. He had superficial corneal ulcers covering both of his eyes, and he was coughing due to smoke inhalation.

Our team swung in to action to treat Jackson, rehydrate him and relieve his pain. He  underwent reassessment and bandage changes daily, and is now having his bandages changed every 3-4 days. His eyes have completely healed, and most of the skin has grown back over his paws. He is becoming more mobile every day, and has even started running and trying to jump into the back of the car! It will take a few more weeks for the pads to grow back completely, and for Jackson to be able to move around comfortably without bandages on. Even though Jackson has been retired from work for a while, his owners are so grateful that he has survived when they have lost almost everything else. He is their little bit of light in this otherwise dark time.


We have seen and heard many other miracle survival stories of pets who have been relatively unscathed when everything else on the property has been burnt to the ground! Thanks to everyone for sharing these remarkable stories with us, and we are so glad we were able treat your pets and working dogs and get them back to you as soon as possible.