Dog without snout taken to US for treatment

A dog that earned hero status in the Philippines for losing its snout in a motorcycle crash and saving two girls in the process, has been brought to the United States for treatment.The dog, called Kabang, got its injuries when it walked into the path of a speeding motorcycle just as it was about to hit two young girls crossing a road last December in the Philippines, local media reported.Kabang, a mixed breed who resembles a German shepherd, got her head caught in the motorcycles front wheel. The crash ripped off her snout and upper jaw.A nurse from New York initiated an internet campaign that raised around $20,000 for Kabang to be taken to the US for reconstructive surgery.Kabang was able to save the lives of two children. So now she needs our help. Its our turn to save her life, vet Anton Lim said.After a send-off ceremony that included a motorcade with 300 dogs, a team of Filipino veterinarians brought Kabang to the United States early this week.Surgeons at the University of California Davis Veterinary Teaching Hospital examined the dog ahead of a procedure called maxillofacial reconstructive surgery.The first of two operations will repair the dental area and the second will fix a wound on Kabangs face.The doctors have no plans of making a prosthetic snout or replacing the dogs jaw, US media reported the hospital as saying.Kabang is expected to be in the veterinary hospital for six weeks.