SPARKY’S FIRST ANNIVERSARY

December 14, 2011

Sparky has been with us for a full year now. For new friends, here’s his story: At 4 days old Sparky got tangled in electric cattle wire. It cut into his leg all the way around. The wire was live, so he received electric shocks every second for almost 2 days. The more he struggled the more it cut into him. It severed the tendons, and ate into the bone. When he was discovered they did call a vet, who thought it was a case for euthanasia. The multimillionaire owner decided to keep him alive so he could “get to slaughter weight and get my money back”. Luckily the vet put a splint on so the hoof wouldn’t dangle. Sparky was thrown into a gully (without his Mum, so he was weaned at 1 week), and ignored. The vet came a 2nd time to remove the dead tissue, saying the bandages needed to be changed again in 5 days. He was never called back. Sparky lived with terrible pain. As he grew, the bandages did not, so they also cut into his leg. We rescued him at 3 months (and the rich owner insisted on being paid for him). Sparky was in a terrible state. Fortunately he was so young that new bone grew… but it needed to slough off the old bone, and because of the tight bandaging there was nowhere for it to go. So the old bone was sticking out at an angle, and had to be removed when my vet operated on Sparky’s leg. That was in December of last year…. (View below to see Sparky now.)