WATCH BELOW: Turtle recovering from having a hook in its throat released in the Okanagan
A West Kelowna veterinarian successfully performed surgery to remove a large fishing hook that was lodged in a turtle’s throat on Saturday.
Dr. Moshe Oz of the Rose Valley Veterinary Hospital said that since the large hook had a barb on the end of it, the surgery was difficult.
The turtle was brought to Oz by a good Samaritan.
“If there wasn’t a barb,” he said “then the turtle could even deal with it by itself.”
Oz decided to go forward with surgery, opening the turtle’s throat, which he says was necessary to save the small reptile’s life.
Oz said the hook’s design made its presence in the turtle’s throat life-threatening, painful and very difficult to deal with.
After the surgery and a brief recovery, the turtle, which Oz’s son named “Sunny”, was released back into the wild.
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