This dog’s not done

Homepage

Related Photos

Photos submitted by Michelle Dun
Photo submitted by Michelle Dunc

Discussion

July 9, 2009

Puppy survives impalement by meat fork

Anonymous The Times-Tribune Thu Jul 09, 2009, 08:34 AM EDT

By Samantha Swindler / Managing Editor

Thirteen years of veterinary work, and it’s the strangest thing Dr. Keaton Smith’s ever seen.

Young Smokey, a four-month-old Chihuahua, was rushed to the Cumberland Valley Animal Hospital in London Tuesday evening with a large, meat fork lodged several inches into his brain.

And, aside from the obvious fork jutting from his skull, the dog seemed fine.

“The dog came in licking and eating and walking and acting normal,” Dr. Smith said.

Smith said Smokey’s owners came running into the animal hospital at around 7 p.m. Tuesday just as the clinic was closing.

Two days prior, Smokey’s owner was feeding her brood of dogs, dishing out the dog food using the large, dull fork. In the process, the metal prongs came loose from the fork’s handle, and her downward arm movement flung the fork at Smokey’s head — and into his skull.

The dog immediately ran off and his owners were unable to catch him. They gave Smokey up for dead — until he wandered back to the driveway Tuesday evening, seemingly acting fine. The owners immediately scooped him up and took him to the vet.

“We took about 12 radiographs of the skull and tried to identify exactly where (the fork) was, but it seemed to be lodged in the grey matter of the right lobe,” Smith said.

Smith anesthetized the dog, gloved up, and after about a 30-second little pull, popped the fork out.

“Four or five drops of blood and that was it,” Smith said. “It wasn’t a very sharp fork, it was very blunt, and the way it went in, it just kind of separated all that tissue... it had already clotted where the damage had been.”

Smokey’s right eye was a bit unfocused and droopy after his surgery, but Smith said the dog appeared to be recovering fine and was sent home Wednesday. He said Smokey had some brain damage, but it didn’t appear to change the dog’s temperament.

“I don’t think the dog will be out of danger for at least six weeks,” he added.

Because of the risk of infection, blood clots or worse, Smokey is on strict bed rest for the coming weeks.

With more than a decade spent as a veterinarian, Smith’s seen a dog hit by a train, that lived; a dog hit by lighting that made it home; and a dog that drowned in a pool and survived after its owner performed CPR.

But Smokey, he said, tops them all.

“This is the strangest thing I have ever seen,” Smith said. “I told them (the owners) that if they aren’t going to church, they need to start...They’re like the rest of us, they are very speechless.”

Text Only

Homepage

About 12:30 p.m. the right side of the front of an apartment building in Artemus that had been built 99 years ago began to fall in after fire began in the building at about 1:30 a.m. Thursday morning.

Apartment building burns to the ground
At about 1:30 a.m. Thursday, a 99-year-old building at Artemus began to burn. Residents in the nine apartments were able to leave the building safely, with only one having been sent to the University of Kentucky Medical Center.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo

Local News

Sawyers named Times-Tribune publisher
Longtime Sentinel-Echo Publisher Willie Sawyers has been named regional publisher with oversight of both the London paper and the Times-Tribune in Corbin.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
7 arrested in drug roundup
Police seek man wanted for home burglaries
No report yet on body of Bright

Local Sports

Six in a row
South Laurel coach Konnie Snyder didn’t know what to expect when her injury-plagued South Laurel Lady Cardinals traveled to play upstart Knox Central Thursday.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo
North Laurel picks up 71-64 win over McCreary Central
The North Laurel Lady Jaguars were without their head coach, but that didn’t stop them from picking up a 71-64 win at home over McCreary Central.

February 3, 2012
Jackets hold on
No. 5 stepped up again as Williamsburg’s Skylar Griffith knocked down four big three-pointers to help his team hold off a much-improved Lynn Camp team, 57-45, at home on Thursday.

February 3, 2012
The shot heard 'round the Commonwealth
March 27, 2012 will mark the 30-year anniversary of ‘The shot heard ‘round the Commonwealth.’

February 2, 2012 1 Photo

Letters

A thank you to Rep. Jim Stewart
In a time of budget cuts, time constraints and tight deadlines, it is unusual to find someone who takes the time to care about kids. However, on Jan. 12, at the Capitol, Rep. Jim Stewart welcomed a group of fifth- and sixth-grade students from Corbin Intermediate School and exchange students from Hong Kong’s Taoist Ching Chung Primary School.

January 31, 2012
What good could possibly come from alcohol sales?
I want to start by saying that I was born and raised in Knox County. If you would have told me 15 years ago that legalizing alcohol in Barbourville and/or Corbin would be an issue, I would have told you that you were crazy.

January 25, 2012
A chaser for the booze debate
Why not sell alcohol in Corbin? Here’s the straight and cordial rundown of the answers served by some readers: the Bible says don’t do it; minors will drink; more accidents, crime, “tragedy;” we banned smoking (Whaa?!); and economic analysis favors prohibition. Frankly, the debate has fermented past its prime. Have we not already heard the argument as it hops from one side to the other?

January 24, 2012

Features

Ladies in Red dinner held at The Arena
On Thursday night at The Arena in Corbin, the color of big blue took a back seat to a sea of big bright red.

February 3, 2012 1 Photo

Entertainment

Get ready for Ladies in Red Thursday at The Arena
Ladies in Red will be spread out at The Arena in Corbin Thursday as Baptist Regional Medical Center presents a free community educational seminar.

February 1, 2012

Homepage

Search Results

Related Photos

Discussion

This dog’s not done

Puppy survives impalement by meat fork

Site Map

Contact Us