Poor Pieta!

Remember reading about this little gosling?

Pieta as a gosling when we thought she was a he!

Yes, it was Pieta just over two years ago when she waddled her way into our lives and hearts! For two years she has been our early warning system, she has raised a gaggle of Egyptian geese, and has grazed in our gardens, searching for those 'dissels' that she loves so much. (We have also trekked through vacant gardens and stopped along the side of the roads to pull them out and take them home for her.) She has slowed traffic down by just standing in the road, and has chased bicycles and people that she doesn't know. She has walked almost daily to the sea for a swim and has made friends with Alfie and the cats!

Pieta all grown up!

And she has been safe in her little corner of the world.

Until just before Christmas.

There are always a lot of dogs that arrive with their owners for the December holidays and for the most part they are well-behaved and welcome. But, there is always one exception to the rule, and sadly it is not the dog that is to blame but the owners.

The Sunday before Christmas day we were standing at the gate chatting to a neighbour (nothing odd there) and Pieta was behind Philip's house in her enclosure. Suddenly she began to shout very loudly and we looked across to see what had upset her. There was a pointer dog mauling her. It had jumped over the wire and grabbed her behind the neck and was shaking her, determined to take its 'kill' home. Pieta was screaming and obviously in great distress.

Identical to the culprit. (Pic thanks to Google)

Where was the owner? Nowhere to be seen.

The three of us ran across to help. Rob grabbed Pieta and I threw stones. (Not very successfully though as I think I hit the helping neighbour who was trying to grab the dog.) It was not going to give up in a hurry but finally Rob managed to get Pieta away and took her home to our garden.

The dog then ran off, presumably home.

Pieta was absolutely traumatized. She was bleeding quite badly from her neck and her right wing was dragging on the ground. We were worried that it was either broken or dislocated, so we carefully lifted it against her body and used masking tape to bind it in place. She was breathing heavily and unevenly and was obviously in pain and shock. She collapsed on the path and we thought that she was dying. Rob phoned Philip who immediately came home with Nicola. Then they left to find a vet......and remember it was Sunday, early evening. Fortunately our wonderful vet was at home and treated Pieta there and then. She cleaned the wound and gave Pieta an antibiotic injection and told Philip to take her to the surgery in the morning where she would check the wing and stitch the wound.

And we were all thinking 'If she is still alive.'

And thank goodness she was!

The wound is clearly visible.

And after another visit to the vet where she received stitches and a 'wing-sling', she came home to recover. But, it was not that easy. The dog was still around and came back a few times, so it was no longer safe to leave Pieta alone. Philip then decided that until our village had returned to its normal peace and quiet, he would take her to the nursery where she would be in a 'hockie' with other geese.

He brought her home again last Friday. Her neck has healed but her wing is taking a long time to regain its strength and it is going to take time for her to get over the whole traumatic event. But we can see that she is happy to be home again and we are all keeping an eye on her and taking tidbits to whet her appetite. Sadly, she has been changed by the whole incident and she is much quieter than before the attack, even running from Alfie who would never hurt her.

What I cannot understand, or forgive, is how someone with a dog of the breed that was originally bred specifically for bird hunting, can allow it to run wild in a place that has several species of ground nesting birds! We have francolin, guinea fowl, plovers, korhaan, dikkop, all of which are easy prey for a dog that loves to hunt birds.

We saw the woman with the dog a day or so after the incident and had a 'few choice words' with her. (Or at her really!) 'Oh' she said 'the dog is really feeling sorry.'

As Rob said, 'Not as sorry as Pieta is feeling.'

There was nothing more that she could say!