Leo's Story Continued...

Looking at him I burst into tears. They said that they had feed him and treated him for fleas. I could see and smell that they had not. I ran my hands over his body and palpated a very empty stomach, and couldn't feel any faecal matter in his intestines. I gently pinched a piece of skin in my fingers testing for dehydration. It stayed pinched. He was very dehydrated. I offered him a drink but he just swayed and shook. I thanked them for Leo and said I was going to get him to the vet straight away. I thanked Veanna and Graciemonsta and got Leo in the car. Amy was so disgusted by the smell that she began gagging. The stench was hideous. Leo couldn't sit or lay down because of the sores. I wrapped him in a soft towel and we drove off. About 5 minutes out Amy rang Sivaro and told her we had Leo, they both cried together. I then hit rush hour traffic and it took just over 2 hours to go from Munno Para to the Aldgate Vet Clinic.

On the way Leo started quivering and gave a big sigh and collapsed in Amy's arms. Both Amy and Alice started screaming that he was dead. I reached out and put my hand under his chin and lifted it. He opened his eyes and stared at me. I drove as fast as I could go trying to dodge thick peak hour traffic. I had the air conditioner on but I still had sweat running down my face. I was driving with one hand on the steering wheel and one under Leo's head. He never took his eyes off me. I got Amy to ring Nadia our vet, and between sobs was able to say that we thought Leo was dying and wouldn't make it. I was hoping she would give us directions to an emergency vet, but she said to just drive, don't stop, because every second counted.

After what seemed like a lifetime we got to Aldgate. All the vet surgery car-parks were full, so I pulled up at the front doors with squealing tyres. I got out of the car and ran around to Amy and lifted a ¾ dead Leo out of the car. I put my head down to check if he was still alive and he licked my face. I burst into tears. I ran into the surgery and straight into a puppy pre-school class. They all looked in shock at Leo. I was so upset that I screamed at them, "I didn't do this to Leo, an alleged puppy farmer did, to produce designer oodle dogs for fucking pet shops."

Then I realized that the place was full of designer dogs. I bolted into the vet's rooms. She took one look at Leo and went to work. She said she had never seen a dog so bad. I told her that I didn't believe he had been given food or water and certainly not a flea treatment. She agreed. We weighed him and he was 3.7 kgs. He should have been 9-10 kgs. I was then told to go and they would look after him.

I got home and somehow actually slept a little. When I woke up, I organized children for school and drove back to the vet's.

The change in Leo was amazing. In 24 hours he had lost his wrinkled skin and had some energy. He recognized me and came and jumped in my lap. The tick had been removed and identified as a Queensland bush tick. He had been given some small meals and re-hydrated.