**** GRAPHIC WARNING ****

Sadly, in the afternoon of Friday 10th Jan, our dear boy Banjo was attacked whilst only a few houses away from home. It was a usual walk with Mum, on lead, doing all the right things when out of nowhere appeared an off-lead dog that had escaped its own house through an open side gate.

We cannot describe how awful the next few moments were, Banjo stood no chance at all. The other dog would not listen nor relent in its attack. Banjo wanted no part and Mum had to let go of Banjo’s lead for him to run away. Our poor boy stood no chance whilst trying to run home to safety, he was literally ripped open whilst trying to get away.

Back at our front door and hearing Banjo’s screams, Dad came out to a horrific scene with the other dog still not relenting. Dad had no choice but to try and fight off the other dog himself. The other dog only giving up and running off when Mum used an outdoor table to shield both Banjo and Dad.

Banjo was taken to Baldivis vets immediately, he was in huge shock, needing sedation before he could even be coaxed from the safety of his car. Once inside and treated for the pain and shock it was decided due to the severity of the wounds it would be best Banjo be transferred to Port City Emergency Vets in Palmyra under the care of specialist surgeon, Keely.

We transported our precious boy bandaged, unable to stand and extremely traumatised. At Port City Vets he was categorised as priority and taken for a longer than expected surgery through that night. Banjo had questionable x-rays which meant after the surgery to manage the huge open wound he required extra exploratory surgery to check in his abdomen for crushing and punctures. Thankfully his organs were not damaged. Vet Keely did her very best to try close the massive wound, which has been made smaller. However, Banjo is still left with a substantial open wound that is impossible to surgically close due to the lack of skin. He also has muscle damage and muscles that have been ripped out from between his ribs by the attacking dog. There are also many small but deep puncture wounds over all 4 of his legs and he has lost his 2 canine teeth that had been knocked crooked and cracked! Our boy is still on many meds and cannot be released at a minimum of 5 days at best.

Banjo came to us at 2 years old as an already very traumatised dog from the racing industry. Now 7 we have seen him blossom into a beautifully affectionate, goofy and amazing hound brother not only to his humans but to his dog and cat siblings. Our family has fostered many dogs that have been transitioning from the racing industry and Banjo has been such an amazing, patient foster brother too.

Banjo just loves to cuddle; it breaks our hearts what has happened to him. We just want to wrap him up in those cuddles and take his pain away. On top of the massive physical and mental journey he has ahead of him, he will now be facing those trust issues all over again.

As a family we will do everything to help Banjo heal and whilst we always have money at the ready for all the usual expected vet visits and smaller surprises this expense is going to be huge. The vet bill as of Saturday evening was at approximately $8k however this will rise to an approx. $12k to include his stay and care at the vets until he can be released. It is just not feasible to bring him home right now with the medication and 24/7 specialist care he needs. The $12k may also potentially increase in the future depending on the healing of the open wound and whether further surgeries along with skin grafts are needed.

Whilst having the other dog put to sleep, the other family are financially not in a position to contribute to these costs. They didn’t even have the money for the euthanasia of their own dog, having to borrow from other means.

Kind friends and members of the Greyhound community are reaching out asking if there is anything they can do to help Banjo and our family. Whilst we don’t take lightly to the idea of asking for support and will do whatever it takes to cover our boy's vet bills, if you feel moved to help, we would be incredibly grateful to any contributions towards his care.