Killian MacLochlainn owns an animal sanctuary
An Irish solicitor stepped in to perform CPR on one of his beloved brown bears after it suffered complications during dental surgery, it has been reported.
Killian MacLochlainn, a Burnfoot-based litigation and family law specialist, performed chest compressions on Aurnia for over 45 minutes to no avail.
Legal work aside, MacLochlainn is the proud owner of the Wild Ireland animal retreat — a 23-acre facility which is home to a wide variety of different wildlife, including brown bears, wolves, lynx and wild boar.
The solicitor, who qualified in 2014, rescued Aurnia from Lithuania and she quickly become a star attraction at the retreat.
“Our beautiful brown bear Aurnia, our golden lady, had two broken canine teeth and they had started to give her a lot of pain and a lot of trouble,” MacLochlainn told the Belfast Telegraph. “We brought in a team of specialist vets which had the skills and the tools required to do dentistry work on a bear.
Sadly she didn’t make it through surgery. “Aurnia stopped breathing and I tried to do chest compressions and the team were trying to do chest compressions with her for 45 minutes but unfortunately we couldn’t get her to start breathing again and we lost her,” the solicitor explained.
“We all loved her dearly”, MacLochlainn said. “The only thing that is consoling us is that she had one good year here, probably the best year of her life here at Wild Ireland. I’d like to remember her like that.”