Dog Bit By Copperhead Five Times In Kentucky’s Red River Gorge

“He’s still in a lot of pain and will require additional treatments.”

A dog that was bitten by a copperhead in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge is finally recovering at home after a dramatic rescue.

Sasha, a golden retriever, was bitten five times on his back legs, causing them to swell and making the canine unable to walk under his own power.

The dog’s owners called 911 for help and Wolfe County Search and Rescue Team (WCSART) answered the call.

“The [WCSART] team carried in our stokes basket to meet up with the owners,” according to a post on the group’s Facebook page.

The owners had carried their wounded dog on their backs for nearly one mile before meeting WCSART team members who administered Benadryl to Sasha and then carried him out on a stretcher.

Sasha was taken to a veterinary hospital in nearby Lexington, Kentucky where he spent several days in emergency care receiving anti-venom treatments before getting to go home.

“Although he’s still in a lot of pain and will require some additional treatments, he is resting in his own bed,” WCSRT shared on their Facebook page.

WCSRT is an all volunteer rescue team that serves Kentucky’s Red River Gorge Region. The group, funded almost entirely through grants and donations, is on call 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Though most of their rescues are of the human variety, animal rescues like the one for Sasha do happen, a representative for the group told SouthernLiving.com.

“At least 2-3 times per year we conduct rescue operations that involve an animal, typically dogs,” Drew Peterson, Public Information Officer for WCSRT said.

“Those animal rescues range from injured or sick dogs on trail, to dogs stuck on cliff ledges.”

Peterson said the group stays “pretty busy” in the Red River Gorge and has conducted nearly 60 wilderness rescue operations so far this year.

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