Tinton Falls Vet Saves Dog Nearly Trampled To Death By Deer

TINTON FALLS, NJ — A seven-pound Maltese-Yorkie mix is still recovering after he was nearly trampled to death by a deer this fall, and had his life saved in an emergency surgery at Red Bank Veterinary Hospital in Tinton Falls.

And Red Bank veterinarians want to get the word out that dogs being trampled, kicked and gored by deer is actually more common than one might think.

The incident happened late one morning in September: Chewy's owners live in North Arlington, NJ but they were at their vacation trailer in the Poconos. It was about 11 a.m. on a sunny, beautiful day.

"We thought Chewy was chained to the golf cart, as he usually is," said his owner Renee Peretti, 59. "But my husband went outside and called him and Chewy was off the leash. He ran up a hill, where he startled a herd of deer that we usually feed. Well, Chewy is fearless and doesn't realize his size. He started barking at this deer and spooked her. She just came down on him. It all happened within two seconds."

The Perettis watched in horror as a fully grown adult deer repeatedly brought all her weight and hooves down on Chewy's seven-pound body. The couple screamed for Chewy, who ran to them.

"That was the last bit of energy he had, to make it to us. He basically collapsed in my arms at that point and was near death," said Peretti. "His mouth was foaming, his eyes kept rolling back in his head and he was going in and out of consciousness. I kept saying to him, 'Come on, Chewy, you can do this; Mommy's here.' He would wake up when he heard my voice and go right back into unconsciousness. He was dying in my arms."

Chewy's pelvis and hip were shattered and his abdominal wall was ruptured.

"He's very lucky his back was not broken," said Dr. Ryan Ford, the Red Bank Veterinary surgeon who saved Chewy's life. "A spinal cord fracture would have been a much different story for Chewy."

The Perettis rushed Chewy, only 3 years old, to the nearest animal clinic in the Poconos. There, they were able to stabilize him and tried to fix his broken pelvis. Chewy was admitted to be kept overnight. It was at 4 a.m. that the Perettis got a phone call.

"They said Chewy was taking in fluids, but not urinating. They said they didn't know what was wrong," said Peretti. "And they wanted to know how much we could pay before they ran any further tests."

Peretti's daughter works an an animal control officer in Bloomfield. She told her mother right away: "Take him to Red Bank Vet. They can fix this,'" recalled her mother. "I had never even heard of Red Bank Veterinary. But thank God we listened to her. We just packed Chewy up at 7:30 that morning and drove down from the Poconos to Tinton Falls."

Chewy was admitted right away. He needed immediate surgery, said Dr. Ford. Not only had his pelvis been shattered, but the deer had also severed his urinary tract in three different places.

"By the time he got to us, it had been 24 hours," said Dr. Ford. "It became emergency surgery because Chewy's body kept producing urine, which is full of toxins. His body was reabsorbing all those toxins and it doesn't take long before it's a really big issue, like full-on kidney failure. Chewy did not have a readable blood pressure; he was not aware of his surroundings. His body was slowly poisoning itself."

In order to do the surgery, Dr. Ford had to break the dog's pelvis even further to get to his broken urethra, connected a urinary catheter into Chewy's bladder and from there was able to suture the urethra back together. Dr. Ford then had the task of putting all of Chewy's pelvic bones and his body wall back together.

"It's a really tough attachment," said Dr. Ford of the task of reaching Chewy's urinary tract and then stitching it back together again, never mind the fact that he was operating on an animal that weighed between six and eight pounds.

The surgery took about an hour and a half and was a success. Today, Chewy's pelvis is healed and he can output urine normally. His only lingering issues is kidney stones related to the urine build-up.

Watch dogs with deer

Dr. Ford says he's treated multiple cases of dogs being trampled by deer.

"This is a common phenomenon with deer; I've seen a lot of bigger hunting dogs get pummeled," he said. "The owners always tell us they were hiking in the woods and their dog cornered a deer. A lot of times the dog is not even trying to hurt the deer; it just startled it. Well, if a deer feels threatened or cornered or if there is a fawn nearby, it will trample. Dogs get underfoot really fast and deer can do a lot of damage, really fast."

Dr. Ford said it doesn't even have to be in the wilderness: He's seen deer trample and pummel dogs when they are cornered in backyards.

"I've seen a few dogs that ran across a male deer that gored them," he said. "But Chewy was the worst I've ever seen."

In total, Chewy's surgery cost $12,000; the Perettis had to dip into their retirement account to pay it. Her husband is retired and she's on disability.

Peretti said Chewy is her little Napoleon: "He's a tiny thing with a big mouth. He doesn't realize his size and he likes to play with bigger dogs and animals bigger than he is. He would go up to a pit bull and bark at him. That's Chewy. He's a confident little guy; his Mommy's little protector."

"Red Bank Vet was so super," she added. "If I could do anything for that hospital, I would. That Dr. Ford. God bless him."

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