Two weeks after the surgery, the puppy is adapting well to her new mobility – and Gorshkov says she will soon lead a normal life, although he is “surprised” by the speed of her recovery .
“I don’t think we’re optimistic about that,” he told CNN. “But by the third day, she started to get up and walk around the clinic, going from room to room.”
However, it wasn’t easy getting Monika into the operating room – she was initially found without a foot in December 2020 by workers in the village of Plastunovskaya and volunteers who saved her on suspicion she had been abused. use.
Monika was placed in the care of animal rescue volunteers Marina Gapich and Alla Leonkina, based in the southern Russian city of Krasnodar, where she had her limbs amputated and received a blood transfusion.
Gapich told CNN that she and Leonkina had “sleepless nights” because of Monika, and did not agree to veterinary advice for her to die. Two women contacted Gorshkov and raised 400,000 Russian rubles (over $5,400) for the cause.
Monika’s prosthetics must then be printed with a 3D printer in the town of Troitstk, not far from Moscow, and then biocoated at Tomsk Polytechnic before Gorshkov performs the procedure.
For the veterinarian, much of his work has taken on a new meaning over the past 18 months, with some “pandemic pets” being particularly important to some people.
“I am happy to give a new life to animals, especially in times of Covid,” said Gorshkov. “People find some solace in animals and so by treating animals, I treat people.”
And Monika has found her way into the hearts of the volunteers who rescued her. When asked if the dog would stay in Novosibirsk, the answer from Gapich was definitely no.
“We are her carers, we have a responsibility to her!” she told CNN, adding that she and Leonkina have been in contact with an animal behaviorist living in London who can now be consulted about Monika’s case.
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