A team of vets are mourning the loss of a young puppy who stole everyone's hearts in just one day. Oscar the Pomeranian was less than a year old when he was found wandering the streets of Limavady, Co Derry, alone and unwell.
Oscar was taken in by North West Animal Welfare Group, where medics diagnosed him with deadly parvovirus and gave him round-the-clock emergency care. But 24 hours later, he suffered a "painful death" and there wasn't a "dry eye in the room" as he tragically passed away.
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Now the charity is urging dog owners to set any concerns about vaccines aside and allow their dogs to be inoculated against parvovirus, Belfast Live reports.
On Wednesday, Oscar was placed in isolation and given emergency medical treatment, but by Thursday lunchtime, the poor puppy was announced dead.
Mel McKee, from the animal welfare group, said: "If Oscar had been vaccinated against this awful virus he would have likely survived but he was not, he was just left with the risk of picking it up.
"That lead to a terrible last few days and a painful death for a dog that did nothing to deserve anything but love and care."
Medics at Roe Valley Veterinary Clinic had hoped Oscar was initially showing signs of improvement, but his fight for survival didn't last long.
Mel sat by his side and raised donations to cover the cost of his treatment whilst animal lovers prayed for his recovery.
She explained: "Unfortunately Oscar deteriorated quite rapidly on Thursday afternoon. The veterinary nurses and myself watched as his breathing became too laboured.
"His gums had gone from the white to more pink and then they showed the tell-tale yellow tinge as couldn't get up to go to the bathroom anymore.
"I felt the poor pet was in terrible pain. He was just lying there when previously he had lifted his head to listen to whoever was chatting to him.
"The vets tried everything but we decided he'd had enough and no one wanted to prolong his suffering on false hope, so we sat and comforted him as he passed away with some gentle help.
"There was not a dry eye in the room.
"For such a short period of time in our care, we'd grown quickly to love Oscar and he was a popular wee dog with the vets, especially Emily Wilson, who always goes above and beyond in her role as veterinary nurse.
"We are gutted by this outcome and we will always be grateful for how Emily and the team treated wee Oscar.
"What I would say today is whatever your thoughts are on vaccines, please have your dogs vaccinated against Parvo. It is a horrible virus, it has horrible, painful and distressing symptoms and the outcome is often death.
"Parvovirus is preventable with a simple injection that every vet can administer. Please book your dog's parvo jab today or check that your dog's vaccinations are up to date."
Do you have a dog story to share? Email nia.dalton@reachplc.com.
