Dotsure is proud to be on the cutting edge of innovation in partnering with the University of Pretoria’s veterinary team at the Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital (OVAH) to facilitate a ground-breaking, life-saving operation on Harold the dog.
Harold is a rescue dog that has lived a difficult life. After suffering years of abuse and neglect from his initial owner, he has a broken jaw that has drastically deteriorated and left him unable to eat. As Harold’s jawbone is of poor quality now, he needed an extensive bone graft as well as a custom plate to accommodate his remaining mandibular bone fragments. Since this has been going for a while no commercially available plate would fit on Harold’s jaw. After a CT scan was done on Harold’s head, the images were sent to former UP specialist prosthodontist Prof Cules van Heerden, who, together with his team from the Central University of Technology in Bloemfontein, developed and 3D printed a custom titanium plate for Harold. Saspine, a Pretoria-based company that works in the human orthopaedic environment, came on board to produce the screws needed to secure the plate.
This procedure, which took place on October 29th, is a first of its kind at Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital.
According to Dr Paul van Dam, Director of OVAH, “Professor Gerhard Steenkamp, a veterinary specialist in dentistry and maxillofacial surgery at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, and Dr Ross Elliott, specialist veterinary small animal surgeon, spent a lot of time working on this special, custom plate that will help repair Harold’s drifting jaw. It is the team’s trailblazing and pioneering spirit that has made it possible. Several other veterinarians have also committed their time and expertise to provide Harold with the best care possible and this is no small feat.”
Harold’s parents are “beyond grateful” that Harold is getting the care he needs after many months of suffering.
“This dog has lived a very difficult life filled with trauma and neglect. He deserves a new life with hope. He deserves to know that he is loved, he deserves to play tug-of-war with his new best puppy friend and he deserves a chance at life. We have been trying to raise the funds to pay for Harold’s much-needed surgery and are so grateful that Dotsure generously stepped in to assist us,” they said.
“Dotsure is proud to be supporting Harold through this ordeal. It has always been ingrained in our DNA to take the road less travelled and use innovation to better the world we live in. This surgery will make a monumental contribution to South African veterinary medicine and the industry as a whole. We are hopeful that the surgery will lead to a good outcome for Harold and pave the way for more dogs to be saved through this procedure. We are committed to changing the lives of animals across South Africa. It starts with one.
It is deeply rewarding to invest in helping Harold as well as support Onderstepoort Veterinary Academic Hospital to perform such an innovative surgery. We urge South Africans to get involved in taking care of animals and ensure that no furry friend is left behind,” says David Roache, Chief Operating Officer of Dotsure.
