Double eye lift and face lift for a dog

Rather than the vanity that motivates hounded Hollywood stars into seeking plastic surgery, Roland the abandoned shar pei has had a face lift so he won't go blind.

As a shar pei, Roland is highly prized for his wrinkly skin, but the breed suffers from entropion, a painful condition in which his wrinkles cause his eyelashes to turn inward and rub against his eyeballs.

If left untreated the condition could have caused Roland to go blind and was preventing him from being rehomed. The solution: A double eye lift and full face lift.



Australian RSPCA chief vet Magdoline Awad said the 90-minute surgery was not about vanity. "What we have done is made him adoptable," she said. "It is not uncommon in this breed, it is a congenital problem."

Roland's eye lift surgery and excess face wrinkle removal cost almost $1000. Roland now had a better chance at finding a good home as a family could adopt him without having to pay for the surgery, Dr Awad said.

Roland is one of growing number of shar peis turning up at animal shelters. The breed, once the world's rarest, is often dumped after owners realise the costs of correcting the breed's congenital health problems.