Nov 14, 2008 10:10 am US/Eastern
Injured Turtle Has Flipper Amputated
Turtle Was Flown From St. Croix
"Sandy" Was Attacked While Nesting
MARATHON (CBS4) ―
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A hawksbill turtle named "Sandy" undergoes surgery at the Florida Keys-based Turtle hospital to have his right front flipper amputated after she was attacked by wild dogs last month while nesting on a St. Croix beach.
Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau
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Micah Rogers, right, of the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital, checks the heartbeat of a hawksbill turtle named "Sandy" in Miami on Nov. 11, 2008. At left is Tom Luebke. The turtle was attacked by wild dogs last month while nesting on a St. Croix beach.
Andy Newman/Florida Keys News Bureau
An injured hawksbill sea turtle underwent successful surgery Thursday to have her right front flipper amputated. The turtle was attacked by wild dogs in the Virgin Islands, and was flown to Miami Tuesday, before being transferred to the Florida Keys-based Turtle Hospital.
"'Sandy arrived with a badly damaged right front flipper and several injuries to the other flippers," said staff vet Douglas Mader. "The right front flipper had such serious injuries, she was going to die from sepsis and infection."
Mader said the turtle handled the surgery well and added the turtle should be able to survive in the wild without a flipper.
"Amputating her flipper is serious surgery, but sea turtles can swim fine missing one flipper," he said. "The biggest concern we have with Sandy is that she's got injuries to her other flippers and if those heal, she should do very well."
The 170-pound turtle was attacked last month in St. Croix as she was nesting and veterinarians there chose to send her to the Keys for further treatment.
Mader and other Turtle Hospital officials hope to send Sandy back to St. Croix if she recovers from her wounds.
"We ultrasounded Sandy before the surgery and determined that she already laid her eggs," Mader said. "If everything goes well, she should heal from her injuries in about three to four months."
Weighing 170 pounds, the turtle was transported for free on an American Airlines flight to Miami Tuesday night and then loaded onto the Turtle Hospital's ambulance to make the trip to Marathon for treatment.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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