Meet Naki'o, the bionic dog

Naki’o, a mixed-breed dog from Nebraska, is touted as the world's first dog ever to be given prosthetic replacements for all four paws.

 

As a puppy, Naki’o and his mother were abandoned in the cellar of a foreclosed home. While drastically low temperatures and starvation took the mother’s life, the puppy, despite being frozen in a puddle of ice water, miraculously survived. This came, however, at a cost; he lost all four paws and the tip of his tail to frostbite, according to Discovery News, Technabob, and Buzzfeed. 

 

Fortunately, he was discovered and adopted by veterinarian assistant Christie Pace of Colorado Springs, Colorado. Thanks to her, the wounds healed into stumps. Though the lack of his paws did not seem much of a hurdle for the puppy, trouble began when he grew bigger and Naki’o found himself unable to support his own weight with his stumps.

 

Pace raised money by setting up a fundraiser, then contacted OrthoPets – a US company that specializes in customizing artificial limbs and orthotic braces for animals – to create prosthetics for Naki’o. When they saw the dog, however, the animal hospital decided to treat him for free.

 

Two prosthetic devices were attached to his hind legs. Some months later, prosthetic legs were similarly fitted to his front stumps.

 

Though his life began in tragedy, Naki’o is now a spirited dog, able to run, jump, and play games like fetch:

Naki'o from Aaron Pendergast on Vimeo.

A short documentary about the world's first dog to receive four prosthetic limbs.

 

 

Bionic animals

 

Naki’o is not the first animal to receive this kind of aid from manmade technology. Prosthetics have helped improve the quality of life of many other animals that have lost a limb or two (or more).

Just last February, Hu, a 25-year-old female loggerhead sea turtle in Japan was given prosthetic front fins to replace limbs lost from a shark attack.  

In 2002, an unidentified disease claimed 75% of the tail of a female bottlenose dolphin named Fuji. In 2007, she was fitted with the first-ever artificial prosthetic fin for a dolphin.

 

Elsewhere, a horse with a wounded right front leg was found lying by the roadside by an animal welfare group. The leg had to be amputated but was soon replaced with an artificial leg made from plaster of Paris.

 

Similarly, an elephant that had lost its front foot after stepping on a landmine was given a prosthetic paw.

 

Other animals that have been given this kind of treatment include turtles, pandas, and cats. Prosthetics for dogs are, however, quite expensive, and can cost up to $3,000. — TJD, GMA News