It was a bad week for a local Border Collie called Nigel after he had a rather close call with the sharp end of a metal fence post.

Receptionist Lin at Chaseview Vets knew something serious was up when Nigel’s owner, normally a very calm client, called up with panic in his voice. He requested a vet to come out to his dog, who had “a fence post sticking in one side of his chest and out the other”.Vet Elsa and nurse Elora rushed out to find Nigel with a 1.5 metre metal fence post protruding from his chest. Air could be heard leaking out around the post every time Nigel took a breath. At this point, it was impossible to tell if his heart or other organs had been impaled. Nigel urgently needed to be taken back to the practice for an X-ray with the stake in place to assess the extent of his injuries. The rest of the fence post was too big to be moved and was damaging Nigel further with every movement.

Find out what happened to Nigel in this week’s Ross Gazette or subscribe to our online edition here.