Brazil vet creates custom-made prosthetics to save animals

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neenah neenah
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Brazil vet creates custom-made prosthetics to save animals

Post by neenah neenah »

A Brazilian veterinarian is giving animals a new lease on life.

Maria Angela Panelli creates custom-made prosthetics for animals, helping those with injuries and disabilities get up on their feat - or their beaks - to get on the go.

For the animal orthopaedics specialist, the work is a labour of love.
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"We really like this job (of making prosthetics) very much. We don't get a lot of money from it, because for some an animal is just a number, to be thrown away, euthanised. We want to rehabilitate them and give them a standard of living," says Panelli.

Thanks to her efforts, one lucky bird receives a brand new beak made of resin it can use to eat, climb, and even bite.

In addition to the prosthetic beaks, Panelli has outfitted other birds with prosthetic legs as well.

Meanwhile, Brazilian biologist Guilherme Soares, says they put feelings of pity and being heartbroken aside in order to work on animals that need their help.

"The first feeling one has (with an injured animal) is pity, we are heartbroken. But we put those emotions aside and put our expertise into practice. It is painstaking, time-consuming work (to make a prosthesis). One has to be very patient to get the final result and that is a healthy animal, that can feed itself and reestablishing its natural functions. So, you get to sleep with a calm head. It's wonderful," says Soares.

Human prosthesis has long been common, but until very recently the only options for animals with missing or partial limbs were euthanasia or amputation, says Panelli.
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