Burned dog on path to recovery

A week after barely surviving a house fire in Olney, a badly burned yellow Labrador retriever named Annie Oakley is in stable condition and on the road to recovery.

“She’s doing pretty good. Her blood work has improved and we were actually able to go into surgery yesterday to remove some of the dead tissue,” said Megan Evans, the local veterinarian technician who has donated her time and expertise to Annie’s recovery.

“She’s been so happy, wagging her tail and enjoying all the attention she’s been getting.”

Annie’s plight has prompted people to donate more than $5,000 to pay for her medical care.

The 5-year-old dog was rescued from the burning house Jan. 18 by the homeowner, whose friend immediately contacted Evans. 

Known around the valley for her charitable work with injured animals, Evans drove from Kalispell to Eureka and back to bring the injured dog to Flathead Pet Emergency, which agreed to donate a space to allow the dog to recover.

Evans set up a donation web page and Facebook group to spread word of the Labrador’s plight and help pay the costs of medication and other treatment. 

The homeowner lost everything he had in the fire and wouldn’t have been able to pay the medical bills.

When first reported by the Daily Inter Lake, Evans’ donation site had received more than $1,000, but that figure has reached nearly $5,000 in addition to “coffee can donations” at locations throughout the valley.

“[Flathead Pet Emergency] actually had one of their employees get stopped at a gas station; a girl handed her 20 bucks and just said, ‘This is for Annie Oakley,’” Evans said. “She saw the Flathead Pet Emergency logo on her scrub … It was funny, because this girl hadn’t even been into work since Annie had been there, so she didn’t even know what it was about.”

Last Thursday, Annie Oakley was in critical condition, with massive burns on her legs, heat trauma throughout her body, infection, fever and fluid buildup under her skin. 

Evans said she started to turn around that night and now is in stable condition.

But she added the recovery period ahead won’t be easy.

“We’re still not sure what’s going to end up happening with her left eye. She got an ulcer with a bunch of burned flesh around it, … and those burn spots are about four times bigger than they showed,” she said, adding that Annie is continuing to lose dead skin around the burn sites. “It’s a good thing she’s in a controlled environment. With having this dead tissue coming off and having more exposed skin, if she were to go out and roll around it could end up causing more infection.”

She noted that the homeowner is also doing better and said he was finally able to make the trip from Eureka to reunite with his pup.

“She was so happy to see him. She kept on inching toward him, and inching toward him. Then she finally put her head on his knee and she just seemed totally comfortable.”

Evans said she was thankful for all the local support her fundraising campaign had gotten. If any money is left over after paying the medical bills, she plans to use it to start a fund for other emergency animal cases such as Annie’s. 

For now, though, she’s just glad to see her patient recovering.

To donate to Annie Oakley’s recovery online, visit www.gofundme.com/klvvj0. 

Donors also can send checks or cash to Flathead Pet Emergency, 3650 U.S. 2 E., Kalispell, MT 59901.

Reporter Samuel Wilson may be reached at 758-4407 or by email at swilson@dailyinterlake.com.