Dog in coma after saving owner from deadly snake

A young kelpie named Tess is being hailed a lifesaver after defending its owner from an attack by a deadly snake on the Gold Coast.

But the heroic pet is now rated a 50-50 chance of survival after being bitten by the giant eastern brown.

Fay Palethorpe, a 68-year-old retiree from Ingleside, was gardening on her 8ha property on Sunday morning when she encountered the brown snake which, at over two metres long, was the biggest she had ever seen.



The snake chased after Ms Palethorpe, before her three kelpies, including Tess, jumped to her defence. "I called them off it, going 'leave, leave', but she (Tess) wouldn't leave, and she got it and she was throwing it in the air."

Initially Tess appeared to have won the battle, with the snake slinking off, but the snake's deadly venom soon took effect.

Tess was bitten on the inside of the ear, and is now in the hands of Ms Palethorpe's regular vet after receiving an urgent dose of antivenene from an emergency clinic. Tess has been in a coma since Sunday, and the vet rates her a 50-50 chance of recovery.