Dog adopted after tussle with porcupine left him in prickly situation
Aptly-named black lab Trooper was abandoned with painful spines all over his face.
A dog who was abandoned with a face full of spines from a painful encounter with a porcupine has been adopted after he was rescued from the street.
Animal-loving football player Brady Oliveira, from Winnipeg in Canada, jumped into action after hearing about Trooper the Labrador’s thorny situation.
The dog was dumped with dozens of quills all over his face, including in his snout and around his mouth and eyes.
When he received a call from someone concerned about the dog, Oliveira – who plays for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers – decided to get Trooper out of his rough state.
Oliveira, 26, regularly rescues animals and shares their journeys on his social media, MailOnline reported.
The devout animal lover said: ‘The dog had a face full of quills and was in a ton of pain.
‘I drove out to the community and when I saw him, I was in total heartbreak!
‘He was quite scared and timid but I let him take all the time he needed until he started to trust me. His sad eyes were telling me that he was in a ton of pain and discomfort.’
It remains a mystery when Trooper got the spines on his face but he urgently needed them taken out by a professional, as they can migrate.
Oliveira, who owns three dogs himself, added: ‘I needed to sit with him for a bit until he could trust me and then could slip a leash on him and load up in my truck’.
He and his friend whisked Trooper to the emergency vet where the spines were surgically removed.
Although the black lab was a bit swollen and scared, he made a swift recovery.
Trooper was then put up for adoption through the Winnipeg Humane Society, who described him as an ‘absolute joy’.
It was Oliveira who took his new furry friend Trooper to his first adoption event, and just a couple of weeks later the dog found a new home.
Oliveira’s Instagram followers were taken with the adorable pup.
One wrote: ‘What a sweet boy! Thank you for all you guys do!!’
Another said: ‘I’m so in love with Trooper and would adopt him in a heartbeat if I didn’t already have 3…ugh.’
Porcupines’ protective quills can come off on contact or fall off when the rodent shakes its body.
The quills should always be removed at the vet who can give the unlucky victim some pain relief.
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