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Veterinarians Crafted Tiny Shoes to Help a Bird With Deformed Feet
Meet the little bird sporting a new pair of big, stylish shoes.
A mockingbird with a pair of deformed and knuckling feet was recently rescued by the California Wildlife Center. The center isn’t sure where the knuckling came from as it could have been genetic or the bird could have been born with the growth defect.
However, the knuckling causes the bird to develop deep sores on its feet preventing it from doing typical activities. According to BuzzFeed News, “The bird could not perch on trees or walk like other birds.”
Jennifer Bren, the executive director at the rescue center, shared that they normally see about five to 10 cases of birds like this each year and birds in this circumstance will “likely perish.”
Luckily for this bird, a team of veterinarians got super creative. The vets designed custom-made cardboard snowshoes to attach on the birds feet. The shoes are supposed to “’reset’ the alignment of the feet,” according to Buzzfeed.
The bird wore the shoes for about a week until it could “walk normally” and “do normal bird things again,” BuzzFeed News explained.
The adorable little bird has recently been released back into the wild where it can be a typical bird once again!
“It’s gratifying that such an easy fix here can change an animal’s life,” Dr. Lorraine Barbosaw, one of the vets who works at the center, shared.