09 May 2025
There’s a happy ending to the tale of a beloved family dog who faced a grim future after suffering from various prolapsed discs.
Benji is owned by single mum Chantelle Nassari, who was the accessibility coordinator on Hollywood blockbuster Wicked.
Chantelle and her family first encountered street dog Benji when they were holidaying in Portugal over Easter 2019, and arranged for him to be transported back to the UK.
Several weeks ago he began suffering back pain and was unable to bear weight on his rear legs, culminating in him being paralysed from the waist down.
After successful surgery at the Royal Veterinary College, he still had not regained feeling or movement in his lower half several days later.
But while he was recovering, the vets’ bills had increased to around £8,000.
Desperate to pay for treatment, and having pulled together all available funds, Chantelle and daughter Maya, 17, were still short by £3,000, leading to them launching a GoFundMe page to raise the remaining sum.
He is now back home in Cottonmill and much happier, as he continues to make progress towards his recovery.
Chantelle said: “He is still regaining sensation and movement. Every day we have progress, yesterday his leg twitched when we expressed his bladder which is a really good sign, his reflexes are strong and he has reactive muscle responses, we are still working through the incontinence but he seems to know when he needs to go he just cannot control it yet. You can definitely feel resistance when doing his physio whereas before he was limp.
“His spirits are much higher and he’s getting lots of attention and cuddles. He is a total idiot though and keeps forgetting that his back half is paralysed and tries to leap through the air to catch flies. We are not there yet, but we are on our way.”
She added: “I want to thank everybody who contributed and shared my plea for help. I could not have managed it without everybody’s generosity. I have an incredible network of friends who are helping me with his hygiene and physical recovery.
“We have a rota, and every day, several times a day, somebody comes and either massages or exercises him or gives him physio.
“I’m so overwhelmed with emotion. my vet, Clare from Animalism has been incredible. For everyone that shared and told my story to gain support, Mix 92.6 for my radio shout outs, my dog groomer, Yvonne from Scrufts who came after work with her clippers to trim his bum and belly to keep hygienic through his incontinence, I could not have done this without you all, and this includes the St Albans Times – you helped to make this happen and I will forever be grateful.
“I feel so lucky to be surrounded by such support. Honestly, they say it takes a village and my village is amazing. I get a rush of emotion when I think about it. I don’t think I’ve ever cried as much.
“Thank you to everybody for whatever you did, big and small, every part you played made such a difference. I want you to know it genuinely did. I love my village (as I cry again!).”
