Rescued Dog Gets Paw Prosthetic

A Saluki dog was rescued in the desert of Kuwait a year ago by PAWS, or Protecting Animal Welfare Society. She was in bad shape, with her left hind foot missing, with another leg broken, and suffering from starvation. Thanks to PAWS, this dog now has a chance at life, and a loving home in the USA. PAWS volunteers had to give her food, laced with sedatives, in order to slow her down enough to catch her. This dog was flown for treatment to an orthopedic veterinarian, Dr. Erick Egger, at Colorado State University.

It wasn't at all difficult to find a home for her, as she became best friends and was adopted by Dr. Egger almost immediately. Sally as she is now called, has managed to sit through all of Dr. Egger's classroom lectures at the Colorado University for over a year now. This past year, he has been considering the type of treatment that would work the best for her missing hind paw. Dr. Egger decided on a custom made titanium implant prosthetic, which is similar to that used in human hip replacement. With this type of implant, the bone will actually become sensitive to the prosthetic, and allows for more sensitivity and control.

Sally is now able to walk on all four legs, holds her head high, and wags her tail happily. A few similar leg prosthetic implants have been performed on humans, but is still in research stage, even for humans. "If this works out ... I think it would be a tremendous benefit to people," Egger said. "Often, when we're helping the dogs, we're helping people. Part of what we're doing as veterinarians is helping people."