Dolphin with a Rubber Tail, Tortoise on Wheels - Animals with Prosthetics

"Incredible Animal Prosthetics"
Moolfi (undated)

"Fuji, the Dolphin with a Rubber Tail

"or decades, Fuji the dolphin had delighted children visiting an aquarium in Okinawa until a mysterious disease began eating away her tail fin. To save her life, almost all her tail fin had to be amputated.
Dolphin with a Rubber Tail, Tortoise on Wheels - Animals with Prosthetics
"A dolphin's tail fin is its engine. Without it, dolphins can't swim, jump or dive, so engineers from Bridgestone Tire Company worked to design a new rubber tail for Fuji. The first designs did not work properly or had some other drawback...."

Also featured: Uzonka, the Stork with a Prosthetic bill; Tonka, the Turtle on Wheels; Stumpy, the kangaroo with a Prosthetic Limb; Motala, the elephant with a bag of woods; and Molly, the Pony With A Prosthetic Leg.

Each animal has a photo (with an insert, in Fuji's case, and Molly got a combo of three) and text, describing why the creature needed a prosthetic and what was done to provide one.

These photos aren't quite what most people think of, when they say "cute" - but I find them appealing. I also agree with at least half of the last sentence: "...Molly walked out of the clinic under her own steam, and is now an inspiration for children... and horses around the world."

I'm pretty sure that children were inspired. About the horses - I'm somewhat dubious about that. Don't get me wrong: I love animals. But over the last fifty years or so, I've noticed significant differences between people and animals. Call it a bias, if you must: and a topic for another post.

Inspiration aside, I think it's a good sign that people have seen to it that these creatures were enabled to live longer, more satisfactory lives. Sure, the money could have been used for other purposes: but it looks like the countries where these procedures were done had the means to help these critters - and people.

I discussed why people should be nice to animals in "Animals: Yeah, the Catholic Church has Rules About Them, Too" A Catholic Citizen in America (August 17, 2009).

Enough seriousness. The Lemming must remind himself that he's apathetic. ;)