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Hula, the 12-year-old Cockapoo. An American doctor made an 8,000-mile round trip so his precious pet could have life-saving heart surgery at one of the UK’s elite animal referral centres. See SWNS story SWMDdog. Dr Jeffrey Bernfield, a specialist in diagnostic radiology, flew his 12-year-old Cockapoo, Hula, from Chicago, Illinois, to the renowned Dick White Referrals (DWR) in Cambridgeshire for the pioneering surgery. Hula was suffering from a severe case of myxomatous mitral valve disease, had a seriously enlarged heart and would have died without Linnaeus-owned DWR’s specialist care. Dr Bernfield explained his transatlantic mercy dash, saying: “I did a lot of research on where this kind of advanced surgery could be performed and the UK and Japan were the only two viable places.