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"Tripod"
This is the story of “Tripod”. Tripod is a black and white floppy eared street dog puppy that was about five months old when we found him. Tripod was very skinny, weak and had lost most of his hair due to skin diseases. But in addition, his right rear leg had been broken at the elbow and had healed completely straight so that it could not be bent. Thus, Tripod hobbled around with one leg sticking out several centimeters longer than the other. It was almost impossible for him to walk. We found “Tripod” on the streets in Kum where Yudisthira was operating a Veterinary Field Clinic at the local banjar. The Yudisthira doctors thought hard about what to do. Without help, Tripod would eventually get sicker and die because he could not compete with the other dogs on the street. The problem is that unless a broken bone is fixed, or “set”, right away, then it heals incorrectly and cannot be fixed without re-breaking it. The only viable option was to amputate. Even though this meant that he would only have three legs, he would be able to get around much better. But an amputation is a difficult and major operation. Even so, the Yudisthira volunteer doctors and visiting Australian veterinarian Joanne Vanderzwan decided to go ahead and amputate. Tripod was taken to the foundation’s clinic in Renon. The next morning the long operation began. Slowly each blood vessel had to be separated and tied off to make sure that it didn’t bleed. Finally the bone itself was cut and the leg removed. In an operation such as this, there is a highest risk from an infection which would attack the body through the bone marrow of the amputated leg. Thus, the doctors have to be careful that all the instruments are sterile and the they do not touch anything that has not been sterilized. After one and half hours of careful work the operation was over and Tripod, still asleep from the anesthetic, was placed in a cage to recover. It was hard to believe that this skinny sad dog with no hair and missing a leg would survive. But the first good sign came one hour later when Tripod began to wake up. His tail began wagging and he seemed to recover quickly from the anesthesia. For such a long operation, the effects of the anesthesia is always a concern. He immediately tried to stand up, but fell back down without his accustomed “bad leg”. On the second try he was standing although unsteady. But within days, he had adapted to his new three-legged configuration. Tripod's story was filmed by an Australian television program (see Channel 9 Program) and he immediately became a star. It is not usual for strangers coming to our office to drop off donations to greet Tripod as if he was an old friend. Now Tripod runs like any other healthy dog. He quickly put on weight, his hair has grown back and is now playing with other dogs like he had never done before.
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