Dog Lost, Hit by Car in Medford Makes Recovery

On Jan. 6, 2012 “Tessie,” a six-year-old Boston Terrier, proved that cats aren’t the only animals with nine lives, as her tale of survival is one for the ages. Tessie was accompanying her dog walker on a hike through the woods in Medford when she somehow got separated and ended up lost in the middle of downtown. Scared by the traffic and the unfamiliar sights and sounds, she panicked and began to run. Passersby tried to get hold of her but to no avail; and she ultimately was struck by a car in a hit-and-run accident. Gravely injured with a severely fractured pelvis, Tessie curled up in a local cemetery and spent a freezing night outside alone.

When Tessie’s owner, Kathy Noons of South Boston, heard that her dog had gone missing, she immediately mobilized a search to recover her beloved pet. She and her husband drove to Medford and began scouring the town, looking for any sign of Tessie. Residents of the town—who by now had heard about the missing dog—joined in the search. Kathy’s friend, Charlotte Ritson, who works for the U.S. Postal Service, issued an alert over the Postal Service newswire. This alert proved to be the critical break in the case as Tessie was later found in the cemetery by a postal worker.

A Frantic Drive to Angell Animal Medical Center

Kathy rushed Tessie—who was in severe pain with a body temperature that had dropped 15 degrees—to Angell Animal Medical Center, where she was admitted to the Emergency/Critical Care Unit. There, Dr. Ashley Davis evaluated her. Tessie’s heart rate was very low, she was minimally responsive and had no readable blood pressure. Further tests revealed more sinister news: every bone in Tessie’s pelvis was broken in multiple places. She would require immediate surgery if she were to survive.

Tessie’s Life-Saving Surgery and Her Long Road to Recovery

After Tessie’s condition was stabilized, the hospital staff prepped her for surgery. Dr. Nicholas Trout—one of Angell’s board-certified surgeons who specializes in orthopedics—performed the operation, which required stabilizing Tessie’s pelvic bones with plates and screws. Despite the trauma she’d already endured, Tessie pulled through and impressed the doctors with her fighting spirit and will to live.

After her surgery Tessie was examined by Dr. Lisa Moses, head of Angell’s Pain Management service. Moses, who modeled the service after the successful pain clinics created in human hospitals, realized Tessie’s road to recovery would be long and would require serious commitment from the dog as well as her human family. Moses laid out a treatment plan designed to give Tessie every chance of returning to her old self. Said Moses: “Tessie’s immediate post-surgery protocol consists of very gentle massage and physical therapy to help ease her swelling and bruising, as well as several medications to treat her pain and to help prevent long term post-surgical pain.”

Tessie also received “cold” laser therapy and acupuncture—two techniques that Moses pioneered at Angell and that have positioned the hospital at the forefront of innovative pain management therapy. As her recovery unfolds Tessie will graduate to full physical therapy and hydrotherapy.

“I’m so grateful for the medical staff at Angell Animal Medical Center who treated Tessie as if she were one of their own,” said Kathy. “This whole experience has been extremely difficult for Tessie and for us—but knowing that she has received, and will continue to receive, the best possible veterinary care gives me hope that she will return to the fun and feisty dog that we know and love.”

– Information from Angell Animal Medical Center/MSPCA