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Cost of porcupine attack on dog gets prickly

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A couple of dogs in Waterdown came face to face with a porcupine in their backyard, and learned a painful lesson. But the owners are also hurting, after having to pay a hefty vet bill to help their furry friends recover.
Scott and Lisa Broe say their two dogs were going crazy last Tuesday and badly wanted to go outside. One minute after being let out, the yelping began.
Scott says he was shocked when his dogs returned to the back door. “To have them come back with a face full of quills, that’s nothing I expected to see.”
Fernie, the terrier beagle mix got the worst of the porcupine’s defences, with more than 100 quills in her face, side and legs. Dobie the doberman lab mix was stabbed with about 20 quills. It all happened around 11:30 pm last Tuesday in Waterdown.
“I freaked out and my natural reaction was to try and pull them out but they were in there, just stuck.”
Scott rushed the dogs to an emergency veterinary clinic in Hamilton. His wife Lisa was asleep when it all happened. Scott texted her pictures of the dogs.
“I was panicking, because I didn’t know if it was a dangerous thing or if the dogs were going to be ok? The picture he sent me looked really scary.”
Porcupine quills are not poisonous but are shaped like hooks and if stuck in the body, require immediate attention.
Veterinarian Maegan Melillo of Clappison Animal Hospital says “they can move throughout the body, and the biggest risk if they get into the abdominal cavity, they can cause direct damage to vital organs.”
After heavy sedation and some surgery, both Fernie and Dobie are recovering at home. They’re still licking their wounds as the Broe family feels a different pain. The vet bill? Nearly $2,000.
“I heard dogs don’t learn, if the porcupine comes back they may want to play with it again. That won’t be good for your wallet. No!”
Now Scott is checking the backyard for the nocturnal creatures before letting his dogs out at dusk or dawn. “I hope the porcupine has vanished from the area.”
Ontario’s ministry of natural resources says porcupines are common in Hamilton.
It’s advised you keep pets on a leash near forested areas at dusk and dawn. And if your pet is acting unusually excited about something in the backyard, you may want to make sure there isn’t a porcupine back there. It could cost you, not to mention cause a whole lot of pain to your pet.