Animal Aid received a call on its helpline about a stray dog with a huge mass on her head.
The rescue team responded to the call right away. When they arrived on the scene, they located the dog. A grotesque, swollen mass engulfed the left side of her face. Blood drained from the large growth.
A rescue team member offered the dog some food and gently stroked her as she ate. She seemed comfortable being handled, so he scooped her up and took her back to the rescue truck.
Back at the Animal Aid shelter, the dog underwent an ultrasound. The ultrasound revealed that, miraculously, her eye was intact beneath the mass!
A veterinarian biopsied the mysterious mass. The analysis revealed that the cancer was something called a transmissible venereal tumor. Fortunately, it is a type of tumor that chemotherapy can treat and cure.
Once a week for the next six weeks, the dog, whom rescuers named Olivia, underwent a chemo treatment. She fought hard.
Watch Olivia beat the odds.
WARNING: GRAPHIC
Chemotherapy saved Olivia's life. She will live out her days at the Animal Aid sanctuary in the company of other rescued animals.
Olivia was very lucky. Her second chance would not have been possible had Animal Aid not intervened. And while this particular story has a happy ending, that is simply not the case for countless other stray animals.
Founded in 2002, Animal Aid is a nonprofit organization dedicated to rescuing India's ill and injured street animals, and to inspiring the public to protect and defend the voiceless.
Click here to learn more about Animal Aid's lifesaving efforts on behalf of India's street animals and learn how you can help save precious lives just like Olivia's!
What do you think of Olivia's happy ending? Let us know in the comments section.
