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Veterinary surgeon Sergei Gorshkov looks at Monika, an amputee dog with four artificial limbs, at a clinic in Novosibirsk, Russia on Friday. Photo: AFP

Titanium paws put Monika the Russian rescue dog back on all fours

  • The pricey and complex operation to give the small beige pooch prosthetics was paid for by a crowdfunding campaign
  • Volunteers had found Monika in a forest in southern Russia with serious injuries to all four limbs
Animals

Monika the Russian rescue dog is ready for her new life after she was fitted with four prosthetic titanium paws in a pricey and complex operation paid for by a crowdfunding campaign.

Two weeks after the procedure, the small beige pooch is still weak and tired, but she is back on her feet again.

“Luck and experience played its part,” said Sergei Gorshkov, the vet who completed the challenging op.

The 33-year-old from the Siberian city of Novosibirsk has fitted artificial limbs on more than 30 furry patients, including a quadruple transplant on a cat. But this was the first time he had tried the operation on a dog.

Monika is seen on Friday. Photo: AFP

Monika had travelled far for this life-changing surgery. She was found by volunteers in a forest near Krasnodar, a city in southern Russia 4,000km (2,485 miles) from Gorshkov’s clinic.

Her four legs were bloody stumps.

“Nobody really knows what happened to her. Some volunteers think that somebody cut her paws off out of cruelty,” Gorshkov said.

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Monika – estimated to be between two and four years old – could have suffered the fate of thousands of stray dogs that are found injured: put down or just left to die.

Luckily, she ended up in the caring hands of Alla Leonkina, a volunteer from Krasnodar. Leonkina said that for almost a year she and a friend took care of Monika, who was in a “terrible state”.

While looking after Monika, she heard about Gorshkov’s clinic and launched an online campaign to fund the surgery. Within a month, they had 400,000 roubles (US$5,400) – a large sum for Russia.

A picture shows Monika, an amputee dog with four artificial limbs, at a veterinary clinic in Novosibirsk on Friday. Photo: AFP

Leonkina said that Monika flew to Siberia sitting next to her on the plane.

The campaign also financed the prosthetic titanium legs that were made using a 3D printer.

Gorshkov said that Monika’s bones will grow and adapt to the artificial limbs “like antlers on a deer”.

And once she has recovered, Monika will be able to walk into her new home.

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