King Whacker was severely injured found by animal rescuer Niall Harbison, (Image: Twitter @NiallHarbison)
An animal rescuer has confessed to being left “speechless” after he found a stray who had been cut open by an axe, but has been happy to report that he managed to rescue the dog on time.
Niall Harbison is a dog rescuer located in Thailand who aims to rescue 10,000 abandoned pooches a month, and uses his social media following to fund his mission through donations.
However, the internet has been shocked by the story of King Whacker, an abandoned dog who Niall has posted about on Twitter, and said he was shocked due to how severely injured he found the animal.
In the viral video, Niall said he received a call from an unknown number, and when he picked up there was a “hysterical” Russian woman on the other end who explained to him in “broken English” that she had discovered a dog in a terrible situation.
Niall rushed to the location, and was dismayed to find a dog that had a giant hole in the middle of his forehead, and it appeared that the dog had been attacked with an axe.
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King Whacker’s story has gone viral, with people shocked and amazed at his recovery (Image: Twitter @NiallHarbison)
Niall said: “His head was split open. I couldn’t actually process it, it just looked so bad…the cut was so deep you could see quite literally into his skull…it was the widest cut I’ve ever seen.”
The animal rescuer said he was not sure what to do, as he had no medical experience and did not even own a car, but managed to secure a truck and rushed King Whacker to an animal hospital.
As soon as they arrived at the veterinarian, Niall said every member of staff there stopped what they were doing and rushed over to help.
Niall said: “They managed to patch him up. The vet told me that another millimetre and he would have been dead.
“That’s how close they were to the brain. They had done a lot of damage, and it looked really bad, but essentially it was just cut. They just hadn’t managed to kill him, he was a very lucky boy.”
Niall said he had difficulty processing how bad King Whacker’s injury was when he first rescued him (Image: Twitter @NiallHarbison)
It was unknown if King Whacker would make it, but after the emergency surgery and overnight stay, the pooch had recovered, but King Whacker has been left with a scar in the middle of his face.
Niall said: “Throughout it all, Whacker was a superstar. He has never had a home, he was a street dog.”
The animal rescuer said King Whacker got his name due to the “regal” way he wore his dog cone, to stop him from stretching at the injury.
He said: “Whacker wore the cone very regally like he was a King or something…it was a name people really liked…he was also the big boss [of the other dogs] but in a really nice way, he always played with the puppies…like a big friendly dad.”
It took King Whacker three weeks to recover from the injury, and Niall said that after a couple of months his scar has almost “completely healed” and is not noticeable anymore.
Niall said: “It’s amazing how close his brush with death was. That millimetre saved his life.”
King Whacker is now living a happy life in Scotland, and has been nicknamed (Image: Twitter @NiallHarbison)
King Whacker immediately gained a following online due to his “fun” and “goofy” personality, and in a recent update Nial was excited to announce that somebody from Scotland has adopted the dog.
Niall said: “It will be a bit of a climate change for him, but if you think of how close he came to death on the streets of Thailand, he’s going to be walking about looking all regal and fantastic-looking, he’s now happy with life on the streets of Glasgow.”
King Whacker has been jokingly nicknamed the “King of Glasgow” by his fans, and recent footage on Niall’s Twitter account has shown the dog wagging his tail and having fun at a beach in Scotland.
Niall has admitted he was “sad” to see King Whacker go, but was “over the moon” that he had been able to find the dog a happy home.
He said: “Whakcer has taught me to never look backwards in life. No matter what pitfalls hit you, as my God that was a big one to hit him, but he’s never been down for a moment about it…he’s just a happy big goofball.”
Niall has been hailed an “absolute hero” online for being able to rescue King Whacker (Image: Twitter @NiallHarbison)
People online have had their hearts captured by King Whacker, with many people praising Niall as an “absolute hero.”
One person said: “That was my first cry of the day, cheers Niall!” while another person said: “All hail King Whacker, the true king of Scotland!”
Somebody else wrote: “I am seldom at a loss of words, but I am now crying happy nears. I’m so grateful for the woman that called you, the vet staff and all the lovely people that helped King Whacker. You remind me daily that goodness is possible.”
Niall currently runs a sanctuary where he looked after almost 100 street dogs, and is able to help the animal through donations online, but his expenses can run up to around $3,000 (£2,400) a month.
On his website: Niall has written: “Every penny donated goes directly towards helping the dogs. I donate all my time for free and I also cover any banking or platform fees to ensure it helps the dogs directly.
“I am working towards having a facility and more people in an organisation to really help more dogs at scale so every penny helps.”
If you are interested in helping Niall rescue more dogs like King Whacker, a link to his donation page can be found here.
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