Two doctors in Australia have switched gears from curing people’s beloved pets to helping kangaroos injured in recent devastating wildfires.
Dr Rhys Donovan and Dr Matt Breeds realised that their skills and knowledge of working with animals at their Animal Rehab Klinik in Sydney could be put to use helping wildlife affected by the disaster.
The 2019/20 bushfire season in Australia was one of the worst on record, with more than 30 people killed, including firefighters, and some 11 million hectares (110,000 sq km or 27.2 million acres) burned.
The area destroyed was home to many animals who died or became injured in the fires.
The devastation caused by the wildfires inspired Donovan and Breeds to donate their time to helping kangaroos affected by the fires as well as others that had been hit by cars or involved in other incidents.
The chiropractic and osteopathic practitioners had met while completing their graduate diploma of Animal Biomechanical Medicine and gave up working on humans to focus on animals instead, treating cats, dogs and other household pets for various ailments at their clinic, which opened in 2018, before also taking in kangaroos.
Two doctors in Australia have switched gears from curing people’s beloved pets to helping kangaroos injured in recent devastating wildfires, treating the animals with lasers that require them to wear special sunglasses
The glasses – which are called ‘doggles’ – are used on animals during this process for protection, as lasers can cause damage and even blindness if directly shot into the eyes. The laser therapy accelerates the healing process for injured animals and is also used on humans
Photos showing the fluffy creatures wearing special safety sunglasses while undergoing laser treatments have melted hearts online and in the clinic.
Laser therapy is a pain-free innovation that can help both humans and animals by using specific wavelengths of light to accelerate the healing process, leading to decreased pain, increased circulation, decreased swelling, faster healing and reduced inflammation.
The glasses – which are called ‘doggles’ – are used on animals during this process for protection, as lasers can cause damage and even blindness if directly shot into the eyes.
Donovan said: ‘We always have a little chuckle whenever we pop the doggles on.
‘They look very cool, like the old school pilots that are about to take flight.’
Donovan said he had a life-long love of animals and knew he wanted to work with them. He believes the clinic provides a vital service that is not widely available in Australia.
Dr Rhys Donovan poses with a patient at the Animal Rehab Klinik in Sydney, which he set up with Dr Matt Breeds in 2018, and which had mostly treated household pets before the 2019/20 wildfires
Along with the laser therapy, the clinic also makes special casts to help heal injured limbs and tails
‘Animal rehabilitation is not very common. Although there are vets for emergencies, there are not many places you can go for the aftercare and rehab,’ he said.
He added that it was when two colleagues invited him to help bushfire-affected kangaroos that he knew he had to get involved.
‘It was very intense for me to see the devastation, it was the first time I’d been exposed to that.
‘But it really started a passion in me to help the animals that had survived, it is so rewarding.
‘While it was mostly kangaroos, there are a few wombats and possums as well that we helped,’ he said.
Donovan explained that the clinic used the lasers to help the animals with burns and wounds from the fires and also makes special casts to help heal fractured legs and tails.
Donovan explained that mother kangaroos were often worse off than their joeys, which they carry in a pouch on their abdomen. Many females had badly burned feet from ‘bouncing across the embers trying to escape the fires,’ the doctor said.
‘The joeys were better off than their mums, because they were in their pouches.
‘But the mums were not very well off, as they had all burns on their feet from bouncing across the embers trying to escape the fires.’
Despite the trauma and injuries endured by the animals, Donovan said many are able to recover with proper treatment.
‘It is amazing to make a positive difference to these animals and give them a quality of life,’ he said.
‘Our aim is to help wildlife either back out into the while or in a sanctuary. If their injuries are too devastating, they are safer to live in a sanctuary.
‘It is great to know we have helped make their lives better. They are such special creatures.’
Despite the trauma and injuries endured by the animals, Donovan said many are able to recover with proper treatment: ‘It is amazing to make a positive difference to these animals and give them a quality of life’