MAUDIE, a minkhound from Morwellham, has this week been named the PDSA?s pet survivor of the year, after a public vote by a national Sunday newspaper.
Maudie won the prestigious title after her desperate two-week fight for survival earned her the regional award earlier this year.
The five-year-old dog escaped from the garden of owners Susan and Geoffrey Tucker last spring. After a frantic fortnight of searching fields and woodlands in the area round their home, Maudie was finally found by a farmer. She was emaciated and dehydrated, tangled in a barbed wire fence and was fading fast, the wire wrapped tightly round one of her back legs like a tourniquet.
Maudie was rushed to Westmoor Veterinary Centre in Tavistock, where vet Roger Holden fought to save her life. Unfortunately, he was forced to amputate her leg, but she showed huge courage in pulling through from her ordeal and within eight weeks was out walking regularly with her beloved brother, Archie.
Susan Tucker said they barely dared hope Maudie could survive her ordeal.
?At the end of that day we saw her in intensive care and thanked Roger ? he said ?Don?t thank me yet ? thank me in 24 hours? but she was actually standing within that time,? said Susan, who said Maudie had looked horrifying when she had been found.
?She looked in a pretty skanky state before that, but without food or water for two weeks, she was just skin and bone ? the farmer who found her really thought she?d had it,? said Susan.
The couple both paid tribute to the ?brilliant? care from all the staff at Westmoor, particularly vet Roger Holden.
Roger said as soon as Maudie was brought in to the surgery, he could see the situation was touch and go. He said technically, the amputation was fairly straightforward and Maudie was now able to pelt around happily.
?I?ve got a three-legged animal of my own, so I was all for it, and she?s come though it so well ? she?s a lovely dog,? he said.
As the pet survivor of the year, the Tuckers have been presented with £100 worth of vouchers, a pet-friendly holiday break and a silver salver. Westmoor vets have also received vouchers and a hamper.
Elaine Pendlebury, senior vet and one of the PDSA award judges, said: ?There were eight outstanding finalists this year and all showed staggering determination to recover from a potentially life-threatening injury or illness.
?This award also recognises the work of veterinary staff, who play such an invaluable part in the recovery process. We must not forget the owners too, whose care and love was an integral part of each pet?s recovery.?