Fans of The Supervet were heartbroken last night when the programme featured a rescue puppy named Elvis that had been beaten and left with facial injuries.
Thursday (July 2) evening’s episode was a puppy special that looked at some of the adorable little pooches vet Noel Fitzpatrick has performed life-saving treatment on over the years.
Among them was Elvis, who was in the practice in September 2014.
What happened on The Supervet puppy special?
The rescue Rottweiler’s owners, Jane and Simon, explained how he had already suffered a lot in his short life when they adopted him.
Jane said on the Channel 4 programme: “Elvis was found wandering the streets. He was approximately six weeks old. And he had a fractured cheekbone, fractured eye socket.”
Read more: The School That Tried To End Racism: Viewers demand change in Britain’s education system
“The way he was reactive to things, it seemed to be that he was mistreated,” Simon said.
The couple noticed that Elvis had developed a problem with his back legs, so they brought him in to be looked over.
Supervet Noel told them, “The problem is here, with his spine” and said he would have “pronounced” pain.
Scans revealed the cause of Elvis’ problem, as the Irish animal expert explained a problem with his spinal chord was “squashing” it. He said: “If you don’t treat that, it’ll paralyse him.
“What I suspect happened, is that whatever trauma caused his broken jaw and his broken eye socket also caused his back issue. I’ve seen dogs beaten with sticks and bars that look like this.”
The vet continued: “The fact that you came today rather than in three weeks’ time is the salvation of this dog. If you didn’t love him as much as you do, he would be paralysed.”
Elvis underwent treatment to fix his back issue and make him good as new.
What did viewers think?
Reacting on Twitter, viewers were heartbroken as they were told of what the dog had gone through.
One said: “Elvis is breaking my heart right now.”
Another wrote: “Poor Elvis. How can anyone beat a dog? It’s beyond comprehension. #thesupervet.”
Elvis is breaking my heart right now.
A third wrote: “Catching up on #supervet. How adorable are all these puppies, extra special place in my heart for #Elvis.”
Someone else said alongside a string of crying emojis: “Omg I’m sobbing #Elvis #thesupervet.”
https://twitter.com/mrs_fall/status/1278773568424349697
“’’’”
“”“”
“”“”