Russian rescue dog Monika has a new life thanks to a prosthesis

(CNN) – Russian rescue dog Monika gets a new chance after having titanium prosthetics placed on her legs. This comes only a few months after doctors suggested that she should be euthanized for the serious injuries she had.

The operation was performed by veterinarian Sergei Gorshkov, who is based in the city of Novosibirsk and has fitted 37 animals with prosthetics since 2015. Monika is the first dog to benefit from her work.

Two weeks after his operation, the dog is adjusting well to his new mobility, and Gorshkov says he will soon lead a normal life, although he was “surprised” by the speed of his recovery.

“I don’t think we were very,” he told CNN. “But on the third day he started to stand up and walk around the clinic, going from room to room.”

Monika would have been a victim of abuse

However, it was not easy to get Monika into the operating room: workers from Plastunovskaya village and volunteers who rescued her initially found her without her legs in December 2020 and suspected that she had been abused.

Monika was taken into the care of animal rescue volunteers Marina Gapich and Alla Leonkina, based in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, where her damaged limbs were amputated and she received a blood transfusion.

Monika was initially found without her legs in December 2020 by workers from Plastunovskaya village.

Gapich told CNN that she and Leonkina had “sleepless nights” for Monika and disagreed with veterinary advice that she should be euthanized. The two women contacted Gorshkov and raised 400,000 Russian rubles (more than US $ 5,400) for the operation.

Monika’s prostheses had to be printed with a 3D printer in the city of Troitstk, not far from Moscow and then biocoated at Tomsk Polytechnic University before Gorshkov carried out the procedure.

‘Mascot of the pandemic’

For the veterinarian, much of his work has taken on new meaning over the past 18 months. And it is that the “mascot of the pandemic” was especially important for some.

“I am happy to give the animals new life, especially now during the covid,” Gorshkov said. “People find some comfort in animals, and therefore when I treat animals, I treat people.”

Veterinarian Sergei Gorshkov caresses Monika at the Novosibirsk clinic.

And Monika has already reached the hearts of the volunteers who rescued her. When asked if the dog would stay in Novosibirsk, Gapich’s answer was a resounding no.

“We are her caretakers, we are responsible for her!” He told CNN. She added that she and Leonkina were in contact with a London-based animal behavior specialist who could now be consulted about Monika’s case.