Canine Injured by Dog Meat Traders Able to Get Life-Changing Surgery Thanks to Fan Donations

Kennedy News

The scars from Angel's past are easy to see, but she is looking forward to a brighter future.

According to LADBible, the Belgian shepherd was rescued from China's dog meat trade in 2015, but unfortunately not before her face was disfigured by meat traders.

After the pooch was pulled from her grim circumstances by Rushton Dog Rescue, she was adopted by U.K. animal lover Hollie Cornes. Cornes was amazed by Angel's ability to quickly adapt to her new life and warm up to the people who showed love to her, but also noticed that the dog still had trouble breathing, even though she underwent facial surgery ahead of her adoption.

Wanting Angel to have the best life possible, Cornes researched the treatments and surgeries the pup might need to be able to live the rest of her life complication-free.

When she determined that Angel would need a CT to discover the true root of her breathing problems, Cornes posted about Angel's need on Instagram.

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"We were told her initial CT scan would be £2,500 and one lady on Instagram sent the money straight away - which was incredible," Cornes, a 25-year-old military dog handler, told LADBible.

The CT revealed that Angel's nose "was completely sealed over with scar tissue, so she wasn't breathing through that side of the nose at all, but a 2mm hole the other side."

Once Cornes learned about the issue, she says it was a "no brainer" to set a surgery for Angel that would "make that hole a little bigger so she can breathe easier."

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"I didn't want to put her through any more stress and surgery — none of this was for aesthetic reasons, I loved the way she looked before — it was purely based on her quality of life," Cornes added.

Angel's numerous online fans agreed with Cornes. Also wanting the best for Angel, her fans — she has over 31,000 on Instagram @wonkynosedwonderdog — helped Cornes raise the funds needed to pay for the surgery. Cornes created a GoFundMe to raise over $6,000 to help pay for Angel's operation and was able to reach her fundraising goal in just four days.

"Without the fundraising and her support system it wouldn't have been an option -— in total it added up to cost about £7,500 — which we never would have been able to afford," Cornes said.