Dog narrowly survives lethal spiking from porcupine

  • dogs
Mahola's entire face was covered in Porcupine spines. Credit: GoFundMe

A dog had a nasty encounter with a porcupine and came off worse when it was covered in spikes all over its face and body, raking up hundreds in vet bills to save its life.

Mahalo was with two other dogs, Nestah and Soljah, when they ran into the porcupine which stabbed all three animals with its barbs.

But Mahalo came off worse and needed urgent surgery to remove the spikes from her face, heart and lungs.

Vet bills have rocketed to $8,000 (£3,972) and are still climbing according to the owner's friend Mike Gerrand who set up a GoFundMe page to crowdfund the costs.

Mahola underwent major surgery to remove all the barbs. Credit: GoFundMe

Mr Gerrand described the incident on the fundraising page:

Nestah also needed surgery after the incident in Saskatchewan, Canada, but Soljah escaped with just a few barbs to the mouth which were pulled out without an operation.

Soljah escaped with just a few spikes to the mouth. Credit: GoFundMe

The dogs' plight has raised over $11,000 (£5,462) by Wednesday surpassing its goal of $10,000.

After surgery worth thousands of pounds, Mahola is back to normal. Credit: GoFundMe

"The outpouring of support from complete strangers is very moving," said Mr Gerrand wrote on the page. "I humbly thank each and everyone of you fine dog loving folks from the bottom of my heart."