A Penally man faces a hefty vet bill after his beloved dog Bruno was seriously injured in a late night ‘hit-and-run’ in the Pembrokeshire village.
Ben James of the village’s Holloway Court was out on Wednesday (August 18) night giving his pooch his usual late night walk down the drive where they live (opposite Penally school lane) when Bruno unexpectedly ran off before being found injured after seemingly being hit by a vehicle.
Poor Bruno (a Jack Russel and Chihuahua cross) who has been to his vets in St Clears since, now faces having his injured leg amputated, with Ben facing a £1,150 bill for the treatment, but he has thanked those who have kindly donated towards the costs since setting up a GoFundMe donation page.
“Bruno was free as it was almost 11 pm and he doesn’t normally run off, but unfortunately he did on this occasion on Wednesday night, and although he was only out of site for a few minutes, when I found him he was hobbling along screaming in pain!” explained Ben.
“I picked him up and carried him home in the rain and that’s when I saw him holding his leg up and his paw was just swinging and dangling and I could see a big hole in his leg.
“I cried my eyes out all night as I couldn’t get hold of an emergency vet at that time.
“I got Bruno from a lovely young couple who only needed to re-home him as they had a new born baby at the time. I was so happy to have got him and we bonded straight away for life!
“He was one years old then and now he is four and growing to be an even lovelier ‘little man’ each day. I don’t know what use do without him as he is all I have!” continued Ben, who has was born and bred in Penally and lived in the village all his life.
“Bruno is a well known little man as lots of dog walkers use our drive to get to the beach and he greets them all without fail!
“Many, many strangers pop in to give him a treat each morning. Everyone loves Bruno, he’s such a little character to say the least!”
Since setting up the fundraising page for Bruno, Ben, who is a carer for his landlady and next door neighbour, says he is ‘overwhelmed’ at people’s ‘kindness and generosity’ after donations started coming in, hitting £345 of his £1,000 target in a couple of days.
“I live on a very low income and am overwhelmed at people’s kindness and generosity - I won’t ever forget what people have done to help my little man Bruno,” he continued.
“I would though very much like an apology from the culprit who hit my Bruno with their car.
“It’s not a nice thing to experience for me as I suffer with anxiety and depression and have lived with that for over 10 years.
“Unfortunately Bruno will have to have his injured leg amputated, but at least he lives to see another day!
“Many don’t make it but my Bruno is a tough little man to say the least! But once again I would like to thank everyone for all their support and efforts. We both loves ya all!” added Ben.
For anyone who would like to donate to Bruno’s treatment, head to the following webpage link: https://gofund.me/16bef41c