An animal shelter in the Gaza Strip is using the wheels of toy cars and kids' bicycles to build mobility devices for disabled cats and dogs, helping them walk, run and play again despite a lack of access to specialized pet prosthetics.
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Workers at the Palestinian enclave's Sulala Animal Rescue Society are working to fit some 32 cats and dogs with makeshift wheelchairs or with artificial limbs made from recycled wood and metal.
"In the Animal rescue society there are 12 dogs without legs, almost half of them are paralyzed. We also have 20 paralyzed and amputated cats," Said Al-Aer, who helps run the shelter, said.
One of the dogs, Lucy, whose hind legs were paralyzed in a car accident, was given a wheelchair built using the rainbow-colored rubber wheels of a discarded childrens' bike.
With the assistance of volunteers, Lucy slips her upper body through a harness connecting a metal frame to the wheels. Her back legs sit comfortably above the back of the frame. And off she goes.
"We upcycled a children's toy car into a wheel for the cat to move easily," said Ismail Al-Aer, Said's uncle, who designed the device.
Ismail created a similar apparatus for cats using the small wheels of a toy race car. The animal shelter, in Gaza City, has received donations from charities in Australia and Britain.
There are no specialized medical centers for animals in Gaza, which is run by the Hamas terrorist group.
While it does have two prosthesis centers, they do not offer services to animals, making the shelter's initiative all the more important, Gaza veterinarian Bashar Shehada said.
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