Garlic Festival President Dennis Harrigan brought his veterinarian skills to the festival when he saved a service dog from heatstroke on Saturday.
Emergency medical staff flagged Harrigan down while he monitored the flow of foot traffic at the park’s enterance, asking for his help saving a dying Australian Sheppard named Rosy who is trained to help her diabetic owner in case of an episode.
“When I heard it was heatstroke, I was like ‘Oh no,’ because I’ve seen so many animals who have died from that,” Harrigan said.
So he rushed to the parking lot on the west side of Christmas Hill Park to rescue the canine.
“I put a couple IVs into the poor dog. Her temperature was 107.2. It was really bad. If it had spiked over 108, she would have started to bleed spontaneously,” Harrigan said.
So for an hour on Saturday, Harrigan worked to stabilize and cool off the canine.
Rosy’s owner, who was from Pacifica, was very grateful to Harrigan and the medical team who worked to save her beloved pet.
“At first she was really upset and we calmed her down,” Harrigan said. “I’ll say this, that dog was the love of her life, and I know how she felt.”
Gilroy Police Sgt. Greg Flippo assisted with the rescue, as well as festival emergency staff.
