A family who saved their pet dog from certain death in Spain are thrilled that her life has been saved again following a hit and run involving a car.

Nellie was born in July 2014, and is a Podenco, a breed of Spanish dog. She was rescued as a puppy from what is known, in Spain, as a “Kill Station” , stray dogs in Spain are commonly, and quickly, dealt with in this way.

She was brought to the UK with other pups in January 2015 and adopted by the Robinson family at Sellack, who were looking for another Podenco to keep their other Spanish rescue dog company. She settled in well and was very happy until October 26th when Nellie was out for a walk with Jane Robinson, and her daughter, Martha, age 14. Nellie was hit by a car, which did not stop, on the Hoarwithy to Ross road.

She was rushed to Vine Tree Vets in Ross where it appeared she had no broken bones, but it was evident she was in a lot of distress and bleeding heavily internally.

Nellie needed an immediate blood transfusion and, because time was of the essence, the blood was taken, from one Amy Howard, one of the vets’ own dogs, a lurcher. After Nellie was sufficiently stabilised, that same evening, she was operated on by another vet, Helen Vaughan, assisted by nurse Alison Leake, in an attempt to stem the internal bleeding.

During that operation, it was discovered that it was Nellie’s liver that was damaged, and heavily bleeding as a result. About a quarter of her liver was immediately cut out and a major liver blood vessel sewn up. However, it was found to be impossible to sew up the smaller liver blood vessels so, as a last resort, absorbent pads were placed on top of the liver and she was sewn up, in the hope that the pressure would, temporarily at least, help to stop, or at least slow down, the internal bleeding.

Nellie was not expected to live through the night but, in the morning she was still fighting. An emergency call was made to the UK Pet Blood Bank for blood of the same blood group. A Quarterise Machine which the vets had never used before was also called into action.

Again, Nellie was not expected to survive this second major operation, as she was very weak, but after two hours in surgery, the vets managed to quarterise the smaller liver blood veins.

Not only did she survive the second night but she is now at home and making a miraculous recovery. Sarah Coles the practice manager at Vine Tree Vets said everyone there was delighted with Nellie’s progress. She told the Ross Gazette:?“It was an amazing effort by the whole team, that is what all the training we go through is for and we are so pleased to have a good outcome for Nellie and her owners.”

The family would like to thank all those vets, nurses and assistants who have given Nellie a much deserved “second chance” .

The police are still conducting inquiries into the hit and run incident