Puppy run over by car rescued from flooded town
The Far North Queensland town of Wujal Wujal has shown the power of community, saving an injured dog that was stranded by wild weather caused by Cyclone Jasper.
Dotti, a four-month-old puppy, had fallen asleep under a neighbour's car last Friday night, as the town anxiously waited for news on the wild weather that has been hammering them this month.
When an evacuation call did come through, the car took off, with the driver not realising poor Dotti was still asleep underneath.
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Dotti was injured when an evacuating car ran over her. Today
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The animal suffered a severely broken leg and was in a lot of pain, unable to get the help she needed.
So a panicked call to the mayor of neighbouring Douglas Shire, Michael Kerr, kicked off a major rescue effort to help little Dotti out.
"They put the call out because they knew I had the animal rescue group here in Port Douglas, Paws and Claws, and we organised with the vet to get some medications and painkillers and anti-inflammatories ready," Michael told Today.
"They doped her up for the trip home because we had helicopters going up there with food supplies and we managed to fly her out on a chopper and she got operated on on Wednesday and had a nice little plate put in her leg with seven pins and a massive big scar down her leg."
Dotti was flown out in a chopper delivering emergency supplies to Wujal Wujal. Supplied
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Michael said Dotti was the perfect little patient during her operation, revealing she had her tail wagging the whole way through.
"She's a very happy little dog, a beautiful young thing and she's got a great personality as well," he said.
"She's got about six to eight weeks worth of recovery here at the shelter and then she'll be going back home to Woodville, where her parents are."
The community has been facing uncertainty for a month now after Cyclone Jasper set upon them and Michael said they aren't out of the woods yet.
"We had another 140mm worth of rain last night and they're expecting up to 300mm today," he said.
"So we're back on to water restrictions and we've got road closures again and if this rain continues today, we're going to see further issues."
See the full chat with Michael and Dotti in the video above
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