SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
When Courage first arrived at the shelter in Yellowknife he had two ropes embedded in his neck that had to be surgically removed.

Courage, a five-month-old mix-breed puppy, is now on the mend after being brought to the Yellowknife shelter with two ropes embedded in the skin of his neck. - photo courtesy of NWT SPCA foster family

"He's about five months old, so somebody must have put them on when he was two or three months old and left it, and forgot about it," said Nicole Spencer, NWT SPCA president. "They had to cut away the skin to take out the ropes. It was an open wound, the rope was really embedded."

The mix-breed puppy came into the SPCA's care in late October, when Spencer said they were contacted by a person in Ulukhaktok.

"We don't know who owned the dog, we don't know anything about it," said Spencer. "They saw the dog, took him and put him on a plane."

With the depth of his wounds, she said the ropes had likely been around his neck for months while his body grew around them.

"I would say they tied it on at three months old and didn't look at him again," said Spencer.

After surgery to remove the ropes, Courage has had a drain implanted in the wound and is on medication, all coming at a cost of more than $1,500 said Spencer. The public has stepped up since hearing Courage's story on the SPCA's Facebook page, donating more than $1,000.

The remainder of Courage's medical bill will be paid out of Brave's Fund, said Spencer. The fund was set up earlier this year to support emergency medical care for animals coming into the shelter.

Brave, the fund's namesake, was a dog brought into the shelter from another community with even more severe wounds caused by ropes that had been tied on not adjusted as he grew. In his case, the rope was so deeply embedded it was into his trachea - Spencer said Brave's surgery was upward of $4,000.

These sort of injuries are unfortunately common, Spencer said, particularly within the smaller communities.

"A lot of people in northeast communities don't interact a lot with their dogs; it's not like we would, they're in our home and we see them multiple times per day," said Spencer.

Since his surgery, Spencer said Courage is doing well, living with a foster family, and one submission has been made for his adoption. His new family has also changed his name to Bob.

Donations can be made to the Brave Fund at any time, either through e-mail money transfer or at the Great Slave Animal Hospital.

Spencer said, "Donations will go to finish off (Courage's) bill and then stay in the Brave Fund for the next emergency, which we know we will get."