The veterinarian treating Iditarod champion Lance Mackey's sled dog Zorro says he will make a full recovery from injuries suffered when he was hit by a snowmobile.
However, Kobi Johnson, an Iditarod trail veterinarian, believes Zorro's racing days are probably over. The nine-year-old faces weeks of recovery from four broken ribs and severe bruising suffered when he was hit on Friday by the snowmobile near Nome, at the end of the 660km All Alaska Sweepstakes.
Johnson, part of Mackey's team when the accident occurred and who flew Zorro to his clinic on Sunday, says an MRI and an examination by a neurological specialist at the Animal Emergency Clinic in Tacoma found no need for emergency surgery.
In addition to the four broken ribs, Zorro has severe bruising in the spinal cord area of the last rib in the back, severe bruising to back and chest muscles, some lung bruising and some internal bleeding, which has stabilized.
"He's just barely able to start standing today. A full recovery is expected," the veterinarian said on Monday.
Zorro should be able to be sent home on Friday.
Meanwhile, the snowmobile driver who hit Mackey's sled dog has come forward.
Mackey put out a plea on Saturday in Nome for the driver to identify himself, and that happened on Sunday, he said.
Mackey declined to name the individual but said the person was "absolutely devastated by what happened," the musher told Nome radio station KNOM.
He said he expects the person to make reparations and added that alcohol had been involved.
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