Rocky’s Horror
We bring this sad story about a sweet dog called Rocky.
Rocky was alerted to us in need of rescue earlier this year. An adult male dog who hadn’t been neutered, Rocky had developed a large testicular tumour. Not only this, but he also had a sizeable sarcoma on one side of his abdomen.
Course of action
When Rocky arrived at our Treatment Centre, he was very poorly. We questioned whether we should just put him to sleep. However, it was decided that Rocky should be given a fighting chance. He was put on a course of chemotherapy to shrink the tumours, with the view that if he became stronger, we could operate to remove the testicular tumour.
With the expertise and dedication of our team of vets and kennelmate in the Philippines, Rocky did show signs of progress. The sarcoma healed and visibly shrunk and he gained weight. Rocky was a funny looking dog but one who showed character and affection.
But sadly our efforts were in vain, for a couple months, later Rocky started to show signs of malaise and passed away one night.
The importance of neutering
Rocky’s suffering and untimely end could so easily have been avoided had he been neutered as an adolescent dog. By removing the reproductive organs, animals can’t contract cancers of the testes (or equivalent female reproductive organs) or other diseases and illnesses associated with reproduction. You can see from the photos that Rocky’s testicular tumour was so large that it would have affected his mobility. Moreover, it would have made passing faeces difficult with excrement likely to have stuck to the cancerous area, making him more susceptible to infection.
It costs just £22 for an IWCT vet to neuter a dog. We don’t charge pet owners who can’t afford the surgery as we want to make it as accessible as possible. Our mission is to help control the dog population in the Philippines so there is less suffering to dogs like Rocky.
Whilst we couldn’t save Rocky, at least we know his final days were filled with security and love with minimal suffering at the end.
You can help prevent cases like this by paying for a spay or neuter. It’s not just about controlling unwanted litters but preventing illness and suffering from diseases like cancer.
Please give what you can. Thank you.
