Newquay charity’s urgent appeal for critically ill puppy Hazel

Hazel is only 20 weeks old. In that short life she has already been passed through three different homes, and now she is lying in an emergency ward with a drip in her leg, fighting to recover from surgery she would not have survived without.

Handed over with no time to lose

Staff at St Francis Dogs Home in Newquay were contacted by a member of the public about a desperately ill puppy. Hazel had already ended up in her third home, and there was no medical history or insurance in place for her, and her owner would not have been able to afford the treatment she needed.

All the charity knew was that Hazel was extremely unwell. She was suffering from severe haemorrhagic diarrhoea and was rushed to Edhen Vets as an emergency, where she was admitted for intensive treatment and put on a drip. She was signed over into the care of the Cornwall charity so that vets could act fast.

The condition that could have killed her

Vets suspected intussusception, a life-threatening condition where one section of the intestine slides inside another, causing a blockage and cutting off blood supply to the affected bowel. Hazel needed emergency surgery, and there was no time to wait.

The operation turned out to be complex. Part of her intestine had already become necrotic, meaning the tissue had died from the loss of blood supply, which made stitching the damaged bowel back together particularly difficult. Without the surgery, Hazel would have died.

Still fighting, still not out of danger

The surgery was successful, but Hazel is not in the clear yet. She still faces complications and uncertainty in her recovery, and vets cannot yet guarantee the outcome. What she is doing, though, is fighting. She is eating, she is bright, and she is responding to treatment.

For now Hazel remains in hospital under close veterinary supervision, needing continued care, medication and monitoring as the team works to get her through this critical period.

A bill the charity cannot cover alone

St Francis Dogs Home has been rehoming dogs in Cornwall for more than 70 years, and is the longest-serving dog rescue charity in the county. Like most small rescues, it relies entirely on donations to do the work, and Hazel’s emergency treatment and ongoing care have already resulted in a vet bill of approximately £3,000.

The charity is asking anyone who can spare something to donate through its JustGiving page, and for anyone who cannot to share Hazel’s story instead. A single share, they say, could reach someone who is able to help.

📷Credit: St Francis Dogs Home

Hazel has already been passed from home to home in her short life, and has now been through major surgery on top of it. St Francis Dogs Home is asking people to leave her a message of hope while she carries on the fight.