Dog's face reconstructed after motorbike crash

Bella's operation took two hours

Vets have performed life-saving facial reconstruction on a puppy that suffered severe head injuries when it was hit by a motorbike.

Bella, a nine-month-old German shepherd, was rushed to Pride Veterinary Centre after the crash in Belper, Derbyshire, in October.

The vet who operated on her said the CT scan of her head was "like looking at a jigsaw puzzle".

The operation was deemed a success and the dog is now doing "extremely well".

A CT scan of Bella's head revealed multiple skull and facial fractures, with her nose and part of her skull becoming displaced.

CT scans of Bella's skull before and after surgery

Rosario Vallefuoco, who performed Bella's surgery, said: "Until this point the gravity of her injuries, whilst suspected, were not that obvious, but when we saw her CT scan, it was like looking at a jigsaw puzzle."

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The scan also showed how the small pieces of bone from Bella's nose and skull were loose, which needed to be removed so they could not cause further problems.

As Bella's teeth had been knocked out of place, her jaw had to be stabilised using a wire frame - like a human brace - and dental resin, making sure that her teeth would line up again post-surgery.

Titanium mesh was then used to stabilise the fractures and to reconstruct Bella's face.

Bella suffered facial trauma in the crash

Mr Vallefuoco said: "She is doing extremely well and cosmetically you would never know she had been in such an accident which, given her initial CT scans, is something we are very proud of too."