Penny's jaw surgeries

Hi, my name is Sophia and, on the suggestion of some of the lovely ladies of the Cobham Mummies Facebook group, my husband Joe I have set up this Go Fund Me page following an incident that happened to our lovely Penny. I shared our story in order to help warn others in our area about this owner and their dangerous dog, however since then we have had the most incredibly touching support from everywhere, much further afield than just our little community. We cannot thank everyone enough for their generosity and kindness, for which we are so incredibly grateful. 

On Saturday 8th January 2022 our 13 month old cavapoochon Penny was attacked by a rottweiler on Tilt Common in Cobham in Surrey. It is impossible to convey in words how horrible this was but I will try.
 
Penny was on a lead, but the rottweiler was off its lead and a long way from its owner. There was no warning and nothing that triggered the attack.  There was no smelling or introduction. By the time we knew there was another dog there, it was upon us. The rottweiler came out of nowhere and grabbed Penny by the mouth, spinning in circles mauling her and just would not let go. It would just not let go. The attack lasted maybe about two minutes but it felt like longer. It was horrific. My husband and I tried absolutely everything to get the rottweiler to let go but it just would not release Penny. We were screaming, crying, my husband was on the ground with it trying to get its mouth open, screaming for the owner to run faster and help. It felt completely helpless. I couldn't even believe what was happening. The dog was massive (maybe 50kg / 60kg or so), so unbelievably strong, determined and uncontrollable. It was so powerful I was pushed to the ground as it thrashed. Eventually the owner caught up and eventually managed to get the dog to release her. It seemed completely impossible that Penny would be able to survive, and we couldn't initially see if she even still had eyes through the blood. There are no words to describe how that felt.
 
We rushed her to the emergency hospital where she spent a week, having sustained multiple upper and lower jaw fractures and multiple puncture wounds. The first night was horrendous. The first surgery she had that night wasn't successful in being able to stop all the bleeding, with a puncture going through her cheek up into her nose causing blood to go to her lungs. Luckily she pulled through. The pure relief we felt that morning when at about 5am they told us that the bleeding was subsiding. It was unbelievable. She had a feeding tube inserted into her neck so she could eat and on day 5 an external fixator brace was fitted holding her jaw together. There were 3 surgeons working on her, with a huge list of potential routes they could take if one option didn't work as the fractures were complicated. The external fixator was option 4. We are so forever thankful to the surgeons and veterinary nurses who took such good care of her. 
 
Immediately after the attack we managed to get the owners first name and his mobile number, which he was initially responding to text messages on however unfortunately that quickly stopped and disappointingly he does not seem to care. He said at the time before running off that he didn't have insurance. He was about 45 with 2 black dogs, one of which was the large rottweiler. The other was smaller, potentially another rottweiler but potentially a cross. The second dog didn't get involved in the attack, it just stood by the side barking. We have reached out to community Facebook groups in the hope that we might be able to find him.
 
This attack has left many scars, not only with Penny and we are all still trying to heal. People without dogs may not understand this, but she is our baby. It's the only way I can describe it. It was one of the most traumatic things I have been through and I am still dealing with the flashbacks and struggle to sleep. I see and hear it replaying constantly, especially at night when it gets dark. 
 
Whilst Penny is now physically recovering (we hope the progress she has made continues) we don't know the extent of the psychological damage this may have. Anyone who knows Penny knows how sweet, loving and gentle she is. She has never met a dog (or person) she doesn't love, and she makes everyone and everything love her back. We've even had quite a few owners of dogs which are usually quite triggered say that they don't know what it is but they just don't react to Penny. Its like she gives off something. We hope that she doesn't lose that piece of sunshine through this.
 
We would have done and paid absolutely anything to help Penny, that was never in question and the vets could have said any number, but Penny's vet bills have been eye watering, and we just weren't prepared for it. We have insurance but it doesn't nearly cover the costs which are still coming in. She's a 4kg tiny puppy whose the friendliest happiest healthiest little thing. We have an absolutely huge third party cover, which is standard. We thought that dog insurance was mandatory, and never for a second thought we would be in this position. We just didn't think we would need platinum level insurance whilst she's still so small. I know many others who have made the same decision as us, as we took advice from Facebook groups as many others do when choosing our insurance. Lesson learnt that you don't know what's around the corner, but hindsight is quite a thing.
 
So far we have paid £8,320.17. In mid March she is scheduled to have her brace readjusted, and 3 weeks after that a further CT scan and brace removal, all of which is estimated to come to £1200. We hope that that will be the last of it. So the total will be somewhere north of £9,500. Our insurance will only pay £1,901 towards it, leaving with a substantial shortfall. We have tried absolutely everything to find the owner to get his help in paying for these bills however he has simply stopped replying. We have reached out to local Facebook community groups who have been so amazing we are hopeful that we might be able to find him and maybe at least get a contribution from the owner towards these bills. Some ladies in one of those groups suggested a Go Fund Me page as they wanted to make a contribution and so that's why we set this page up.
 
We would of course be happy to give any more information or proof of anything. We're new to this.
 
Thank you in advance for your support. Thank you x


This photo was taken on day 5, when Penny was a bit brighter.

 This photo was taken exactly 1 week before the attack, on New Years day. 

 

This photo was actually taken before we left the house that evening.