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Rescued hound recovering well from back surgery at UF

By Sarah Carey

Gilligan, a rescued hound, is pictured at center with his canine pal, Bonnie, and his new owners, David Cheney and Tana Richardson. The couple fostered and later adopted Gilligan after Tana found him near death during a bike ride outside of Gainesville. Behind the couple are Michelle Dunlap of Phoenix Animal Rescue, third-year UF CVM student Ben Brunson and Dr. Carrie Santare, a UF veterinary neurology resident, on Sept. 27. Gilligan received surgery at UF to stabilize a broken back. (Photo by Sarah Carey)

A beige and cream-colored hound with big brown eyes, Gilligan would now catch the eye of many a dog lover for his grace and gentle movements. Lots of loving care from his new owners, along with successful treatment by West End Animal Hospital and UF veterinarians contributed to his healthy look, but just a few short months ago, the dog’s ravaged body clearly showed the trauma he had undergone.

Tana Nicholson, who is now Gilligan’s owner, found him in July while bicycling on a trail between Fanning Springs and Cross City.

“I was riding the trail and on my way back, saw a dog lying near the path,” said Nicholson, who lives in Gainesville. “I didn’t look directly at him, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw that he looked too thin and was lying with his back legs extended.”

Thinking the dog was just overheated and needed water, Nicholson got back to her car and returned to the spot to check on the dog more closely. When she did, she could see his true condition: emaciated, he had sunken eyes and was covered with maggots, ants and ticks.

“If he hadn’t been able to lift his head, I would have thought he was dead,” Nicholson said. “It looked like he had just made his way out where I could see him. I’d passed by the exact place earlier and he wasn’t there. But when I saw him coming back on my ride, he was just outside of the bushes. He had open wounds and it was amazing he’d gotten as far as he had.”

Nicholson took the dog to West End Veterinary Hospital, whose veterinarians had worked with her other animals.

“I was afraid anyone else would recommend putting him down,” she said. “Dr. (Claire) Stevens assessed him and said she thought he had a small chance of making it.”

Nicholson and her husband, David, contributed a certain amount toward the dog’s care, and other services and care were donated. Then Michelle Dunlap of Phoenix Animal Rescue put the dog on her group’s Facebook Page and more donations began coming in.

“We decided to let him become a Phoenix Animal Rescue dog, and that we would foster him,” Nicholson said. “He quickly got stronger, but had paralyzed back legs, so we didn’t know what type of care or surgery he might need in the future. We have a rambunctious large dog and stairs at home, so we didn’t think we would ultimately be able to keep him.”

But the dog they named Gilligan began using his back legs more. After the couple took in another female foster companion for him, Gilligan insisted on going on walks with her, Nicholson said.

“He began jumping on the couch and trying to run,” she said. “Although he had a funny walk, he seemed almost fully recovered.”

After an assessment by UF’s neurology service, the couple learned Gilligan was at risk of further injury from a blow or a fall. Veterinary neurology specialists at UF told the couple that the dog could have surgery to fuse the spine, which would enable him to have a fairly normal, active life.

Additional fundraising through Phoenix Animal Rescue generated enough money to cover the entire cost of Gillgan’s surgery, which was performed on Sept. 26 by Dr. Roger Clemmons, an associate professor of small animal neurology, and Dr. Carrie Santare, a small animal neurology resident.

“I call him the crowd-funded, bionic hound,” Nicholson said. “We got very attached to Gilly with all the intensive care we had to give him the first few weeks, and are thrilled that he has the opportunity to stay with us. We got to watch him learn to walk again, to begin playing, to be a goofy hound who loves life.”

At first unresponsive to his new owners, Gilligan now wags his tail and is excited to see them.

“He lets us know that we’re his people,” Nicholson said.

Santare called Gilligan “a fighter and an extremely sweet boy.”

“We are so happy that we could help him and give him the chance he needs to live a long and happy life,” she said.