Georgia dogs recovering after being bitten by copperheads

Downed trees, power outages and now snakes. A Coweta County family is nursing its two dogs back to health after both were bitten by a Copperhead snake.

"His bite is under here in the chin," said John Anderson as he lifted the head of Moses.

The faces, eyes, and necks of Moses and Maya, the other mixed breed Pitbull are swollen after are they were bitten by a Copperhead snake in the backyard.

"I noticed Maya's whole entire face was swollen and then she had these puncture wounds on her nose," said Kara Rowles, the granddaughter of Anderson, who thought immediately it was a snake bite.

The family told FOX 5 News Maya and Moses were in the backyard and hadn't come for dinner as usual when they were found bitten, bruised and battered. Anderson believes the snakes were brought out because of the hurricane.

Their veterinarian in Fayetteville confirmed Moses and Maya were indeed bitten by a Copperhead, adding other dogs had been treated for the same thing.

"We did have about six snake bites. It just raises the question whether the hurricane had anything to do with it but you never know," said Dr. Mike Younker with the South Atlanta Veterinary Emergency and Specialty Care Center.

Dr. Younker sent Moses and Moe home with a prescription of medicine and love. He says Copperheads rarely kill animals or people but it is painful.

"Particularly when they get bitten around the neck and head, the reactions are more dramatic and we see a lot of problems with that but generally they don't die," said Dr. Younker.

Mr. Anderson kept the snake carcass after he said Moses killed it in protecting the smaller Maya. The two mixed-breed pit bulls are both rescue dogs now on the mend.

"My wife passed away a couple of years ago and so I'm by myself and my dogs mean a lot to me. They're like my children," said Anderson.

He said he'll try to snake proof his backyard but Anderson realizes that may not be completely possible.

Still, he told FOX 5 News he's going to let his dogs play out in the backyard.

Whether they choose to or not is a different matter.

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