When Richard Toce was brought into a private room at the South Windsor Veterinary Clinic, it hit him just how seriously injured his beloved dog was.
Toce’s 14-year-old dog Chalupa was outside their South Windsor home last Friday for just a few seconds before a bird swooped down and tried to carry the four and a half pound dog away.
“I let him out the front door, literally right in front of me, at the front door, a large hawk or maybe even a juvenile eagle swooped –touched down onto him – got his talons into his neck and was pretty much choking him out,” said Toce.
The bird dragged the tiny dog down four steps before Toce was able to pull it off. Toce realized how badly injured Chalupa was after getting him inside and seeing the trial of blood left by the dog’s injuries.
“I looked and realized the dog has been injured really bad,” Toce said. “ The top of his head was bleeding. His nose was bleeding. His eye looked like it was all screwed up.”
Toce rushed Chalupa to the South Windsor Veterinary Clinic, where he was faced with a choice.
Put the dog down immediately, or get him triaged and rushed to an emergency hospital to fight for his life.
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Toce chose to fight.
“In transit I thought he was already gone, I thought I was just going to get told the inevitable,” said Toce. “ But in that process of driving up there the dog started scratching around in the box and I heard him whimpering.”
After a touch and go 48 hours and nearly $4,000 worth of vet bills, Chalupa is resting and recovering at home, just in time to spend the holidays with his family.
“We could have lost the dog and it would have been a terrible Christmas for us and now it’s our little Christmas miracle,” said Toce.
