Red heeler Axel was surprisingly friendly and affectionate when found by RSPCA South Australia Inspector Verity … even though he was in unbearable pain.

You see, Axel was missing his tail. The poor, sweet boy’s tail had been ripped off.

While there was no way of knowing for sure how this came to be, Axel had managed to escape his home six times in the 30-day period leading to his surrender.

Based on this, it was suspected that Axel had sliced off his tail while jumping a fence, or that he had been attacked while out roaming.

Darling Axel is forced to suffer as he’s denied crucial vet treatment

The infection of Axel’s initial injury had eaten its way into his flesh and, when RSPCA South Australia finally got him, his wound was the size of a bread plate.

“It was clear that Axel was very agitated. He no longer had a sphincter, which meant that there was nothing from stopping faeces leaking into the red raw wound. Axel would jump and try to lick his rear as if he was getting sudden jolts of pain. My heart went out to him,” says Inspector Verity.

During surrender, Axel’s owner told us the red heeler had lost his appetite and was not eating. It was clear Axel had lost a lot of weight in a very short period of time, most likely from being in so much pain.

Can you believe he had gone three weeks with no vet care for this ghastly injury?

Axel’s condition is confronting for even our most experienced vet staff

Our vet and vet nurses were so shocked when Axel arrived at our Lonsdale shelter.

Within mere minutes of walking through our door, Axel was given serious pain relief.

During examination, veterinarians found evidence that what small remainder of tail flesh Axel still had after his initial injury had actually been chewed off, by himself, right down to the spine, out of desperation for relief.

Imagine being driven to those limits. Axel’s pain was unimaginable.

“The tail vertebrae was visible and, after radiographs, it was revealed that almost half of the pelvic vertebrae were missing,” says RSPCA South Australia vet surgeon Dr Patrick O’Leary.

Behind the scenes, our legal team fights for justice for Axel in court

In the Christies Beach Magistrates Court, Axel’s previous owner pleaded guilty to failing to mitigate harm and was banned from owning animals indefinitely.

Meanwhile, back at RSPCA Lonsdale, it took weeks of intensive veterinary treatment to help Axel.

Following pain relief, Axel’s wound was tended to with antiseptic ointment, bandages – boy did Axel go through bandages – and antibiotics to stop this infection spreading.

Of course, he was also showered in love and care from our team.

Axel’s round-the-clock treatment was only made possible thanks to supporters like you

Relieving Axel from unbearable agony was only made possible by compassionate people like you. Being able to send Axel to a foster carer where he returned to his fun-loving self… once again, thanks to animal-lovers like you.

Axel might have no tail, but the life that he now has in his new home has him wagging his bum happily, and constantly.

It’s only thanks to support from generous South Aussies that we could be there for Axel when he needed us most. If you’d like to continue helping animals just like Axel, head over here to donate.

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