TAMPA, Fla. — The Humane Society of Tampa Bay saved a dog after it swallowed pieces of a drone.
Lindsey Williams noticed her dog was vomiting and lethargic. She monitored her dog for about 24 hours.
"Throughout the day, I noticed she wasn't eating. She wasn't really drinking," said Williams said.
Williams said she brought her dog to the Humane Society of Tampa Bay. She knew her dog needed urgent care, but was scared she couldn't afford medical care. Williams lost her job in 2020.
"I broke down crying because I was very scared. I was worried. I was truly terrified," she said. "For me, it was very emotional because I felt like I was failing her because I could not afford the surgery."
Dr. Justin Boorstein, a veterinarian at the Humane Society of Tampa Bay, discovered a "foreign body" in the dog's stomach. It appeared the dog swallowed pieces of a drone. Williams believed her dog also ingested parts of a finger splint.
Dr. Boorstein did an X-ray on the dog.
"It can be rather difficult to sometimes identify and diagnosis a foreign body especially if the object is not metallic," Dr. Boorstein said.
⚠️WARNING: GRAPHIC
— Humane Society Tampa (@HumaneTampaBay) May 10, 2022
The @HumaneTampaBay #AnimalHospital received a panicked call from a woman asking us to save Jada. 😭 She couldn't afford surgery so we stepped in to help! It's a HAPPY ENDING.🥰But you'll NEVER guess what the dog ate...read here: https://t.co/sDztAnH8IB pic.twitter.com/QLh8JMZ2Hh
Dr. Boorstein performed a life-saving surgery on the dog to remove the foreign objects.
"If Jada had not had surgery, I'd say 24-48 hours, unfortunately, there probably would have been a hole in the intestines which would have led to an infection in the abdomen and would have had a very poor prognosis," Dr. Boorstein said.
The Humane Society used donations from its "Save a Pet Fund" to pay for the surgery.
Williams did not have to pay for the medical care.
"We help on a case by case situation," Humane Society of Tampa Bay Marketing Manager Christine McLarty said. "We do anything and everything in our power to work with the person, work through whatever financial burdens they might have to overcome the situation and in turn save that animal's life."
The Humane Society said it has seen an increase in people looking for affordable pet care.
For more information on the "Save a Pet Fund," click here.
