A couple of dogs in Texas are recovering after getting into a fight with a porcupine and being struck with more than a thousand quills.
Peggy Gamblin tells KTAB News that she woke up Sunday morning to discover her Australian Shepherd and Boston Terrier covered in porcupine quills. Sometime during the night, the dogs encountered a porcupine at their home in Brown County.
Both dogs were rushed to the animal clinic, where staff worked for over an hour and a half to remove the quills.
“I have to take him back Friday and they’re going to check his eye, and we have to check him everyday, two or three times a day, because some of those quills are under the skin, and they’ve started working out,” Gamblin told KTAB News. ” I took one out this morning and we got two or three out yesterday.”
Now, both of the dogs are back home, resting. It should take about two weeks for all of the quills to come out, but both dogs will make a full recovery.
Veterinarians say they see similar porcupine attacks all the time, and as long as the animal is taken into the vet early, they should be able to make a full recovery.
Texas Parks and Wildlife Department Game Warden Travis Allen says porcupines are nocturnal and most people won’t ever see one. Allen says a single porcupine can have up to 30,000 quills, or around 100 to 150 per square inch of body surface.
