‘Easter miracle’: Abandoned dog — found with severe gunshot wounds — survives surgery

Listen live at 4:15 p.m.: BluJay is home, here’s how he’s doing now

CARBON COUNTY, Utah — A heartfelt dog rescue quickly became the center of a community’s attention Friday, after a woman rescued a lost dog and realized shortly after making it to the vet that the situation was more dreadful than she knew.

The dog, now named BluJay, was found wandering near the ghost town of Consumers near Price and Helper. The rescuer, Tanner Tamllos, said in a Facebook post that she’d taken him to the vet, and that he was found in poor condition.

“He is in terrible shape and has been out there for quite some time and looks as if he has been attacked by something,” Tamllos said.

The attacker, as it turned out, was likely a human. Tamllos posted an update later that evening; there had been two bullets found lodged in BluJay’s head. It was clear he’d been shot twice between the eyes. According to Tamllos, BlueJay had a 10% chance of survival.

1 / 4

 

 

An abandoned dog was found by a woman in Carbon County, Utah with multiple gunshot wounds in his head. After surgery and multiple days at the vet, with a low chance of survival, he began a miraculous recovery. (Courtesy: Tanner Tamllos)

 

“We’ve given him pain medication, and IV and removed one of the bullets but he is too weak to do surgery right now. We will see if he makes it through the night and can handle surgery in the morning,” Tamllos said in an update. “We are all outraged and shocked, just as I’m sure you all are too.”

The following afternoon, BluJay had made it through the night and surgery. Both bullets had been removed, and BluJay would later have to face surgery again to remove his entire left eye. But, he was alive.

By this point, BluJay’s story was being followed by hundreds of community members, all devastated and invested in his recovery.

Finally, on Easter Sunday afternoon, Tamllos announced he was up and eating.

“Easter miracle! Thank you Dr. Harmer, his family and staff for working so hard for OUR boy!!” She said.

Tamllos utilized community support and worked with multiple local businesses to help raise funds to pay for BluJay’s vet bills.

Read the whole story at KSLTV.com