Australia is beautiful but the snakes suck!

My sister breeds border collies.

A breeding pair were bitten defending their pups from a snake yesterday. Bite marks on both dogs. Neck on her, chest on him . Foaming & gaging when their owners came home, so close to death, not even time to get to the vet which is about 45 mins away. They were both shot to stop their pain as there was no hope to either get to, or anything that a vet could offer.

They were both buried this morn on the hill they loved to run up & play on.

I don't have a pic of Ripley but this is Maggie, with her 2nd last litter. Ripley was a chocolate merle. Maggie was the most smiley dog I have ever seen in my life. Ripley was a pure trouble maker.  



My sister is upset,  I am crying. I interupted my mums dinner party to tell her what had happened.
Her eldest daughter is distraught & no one can fix it.

She now has 7 pups & no mum to care for them.

R.I.P. Maggie & Ripley.  

Oh, no Poor things!

Rest in peace, Maggie and Ripley!

RIP Maggie and Ripley.

Oh God I'm so sorry Tracy. Your poor sister has certainly gone through the mill with her dogs - I remember when they got stolen.

Rest In Peace Ripley and Maggie

Thank you all for your thoughts at this sad time. Seems I haven't posted anything happy in ages but....  unfortunately, though I wish it was all roses, it's just life in full force sometimes I guess.

It appears to have been an eastern brown.
http://australianmuseum.net.au/Eastern-Brown-Snake/
They kept the grass low around the house where the dogs were kept. No old tin, rocks or logs & the woodshed is far away from the kennels. Sometimes snakes just come in looking for water. But the dogs defended the pups & paid the ultimate price.

Lynda, you are spot on.    What a good memory. It was in august they were taken, found & returned by the ranger.

Her OH is beside himself. He had to drive to his neighbour way down the track to get a gun. His was in town & waiting till morning would have been cruel.

Though he is a hardened farmer that often kills cattle for meat, these were his working dogs & my sister had to stay with them as the pups yelled waiting for him to come back & end their agony.

I spoke to them today & they are going to keep 2 male pups that look like their mother. The other 5 will go to new homes & later she will talk to another breeder across the border in south aust to get a female from a different line later when the time is right.

It's nice that they're going to keep two of them. I'm sure it won't take away the grief they feel for their two dogs, but I think having a gentle reminder of them around can help to soften it.

Thanks Eleanor.
No, it will not make them feel better but..... now they are forced to be 24/7 puppy parents for now, if Maggie hadn't of just had pup's,  I dont think they would entertain the thought of pups so soon but! & though it will be hard looking at their babies pups when mum & dad are gone, I think it will help them very quickly to bond with needy babies.

Hopefully it'll help to have two pups to take care of.

I can't imagine anything more horrible than to have to shoot your own dogs - my heart goes out to your bro-in-law for doing what had to be done. Although he (and your sister) must be feeling the loss terribly, there is some small comfort in knowing they did the best thing for the dogs.

How old are the pups?

I'm very sorry to read this. I'm so glad we don't have nastys here

LyndaW wrote:I can't imagine anything more horrible than to have to shoot your own dogs - my heart goes out to your bro-in-law for doing what had to be done.  Although he (and your sister) must be feeling the loss  terribly, there is some small comfort in knowing they did the best thing for the dogs.  

How old are the pups?

My heart bleeds for him    to the point of my heart leaping from my body as I listened to him cry, for what he had to do. Though I could not have done it myself & I could not have been there to see it.... it is a reality in the bush here & I would not have liked to see them suffer for hrs more before they died with no hope of recovery.

The pups are 4wks now. Near weaned but still looking for mum every minute. They have put the goat (kid) in with them overnight. Bambi (kid) is about 10-12 wks now. So they all snuggle up in hay together. Its not mum but it is body warmth & a heart beat to go to sleep with.

What a horrible situation to be put into...

Sorry to hear this

Hayley wrote:I'm very sorry to read this. I'm so glad we don't have nastys here

I'm sorry  too!  But... we do have them in the city & country here. We do not see them often in the main cities, but even I keep my land clear, just 1.5 hr out of Melbourne as they do come in! Where my sister lives, they are everywhere.

Oh Tracy.. STOP with all the tragic news!!!

Run free poor Maggie and Ripley

I know. I shouldn't post bad news but... that is how it's been lately.

Life goes through it's ups and downs

That it does!