Specialized Pet Solutions
Ever seen a tripod dog and want to burst into tears, no matter how happy they seem? Even working in the veterinary field for ten years and being a part of amputation surgeries, three-legged dogs get me every time. Even if a dog is just limping, it can be very sad to watch. All you want to do is make everything better for them. Now, thanks to Angela Broncz, there may be a lot more options for those pets (and their poor big-hearted owners) to live a more normal, happy life.
Angela started her professional life in human prosthetics and orthotics. After some time, she adopted a Cane Corso mix that became injured. She had a torn cranial cruciate ligament. This is an incredibly common injury in dogs, especially large breed dogs. It is similar to an ACL tear in humans. For a long, long time, the best recommendation was a cruciate repair surgery (upwards of $5,000), and that is what the veterinarian had recommended for Angela’s dog. However, Angela worked with braces and prosthetics every day. She knew that if her dog were a human, it would more than likely just need a brace to stabilize the knee for a few months until the ligament could form scar tissue and heal.
So, given that veterinary orthotics and prosthetic (O&P) offices weren’t really a thing, Angela decided to make a device herself. She placed a stifle brace on her pup, Leona, and she healed completely without any surgery at all. And that was her moment of realization that she wanted to do this for pets everywhere. Angela ended up adopting other animals with a need for prosthetics, including a three-legged pony named Prince that she has been able to create new designs and prototypes on.
It has been twenty years since Angela joined the world of prosthetics and fifteen since she started using her skill to enrich animals’ lives. From dogs to ponies, camels to lemurs, she will help them all, big or small.
Though most of Angela’s career has been on the East Coast, she is originally from Eastern Washington. And when she was ready to start her very own animal O&P practice, she wanted to do it near Spokane, near family. Her practice, Specialized Pet Solutions, is so much more than just a practice. It functions as an animal sanctuary as well. And Angela has made a point of making the business as green as it can be. It is energy efficient and powered by solar panels so that every dollar saved on energy is money she can use to help animals. For every prosthetic device or brace that is sold, the owner can pick any pet-related charity to donate 10% of the cost to. All she wants is to help as many pets as she can, even with causes that aren’t her specialty. How cool is that?
Specialized Pet Solutions is capable of sending casting kits to anywhere in the world for pets that can’t travel to her location. They will also help work with veterinarians when an amputation is needed, to discuss where best to amputate so that a prosthetic device can be attached. Seattle Pup is truly impressed with this establishment and what they have been doing for animals, so we wanted to spread the word! Injured ligaments may not require surgery every time. Amputations don’t have to decrease your pet’s ability to play and quality of life so much. There are options and ever-changing advancements in veterinary medicine!
Article by Wendi Black
March 2022