The black Labrador hobbled into Derrick Campana’s office in 2004, tail between his legs, his veterinarian owner hoping for what seemed impossible. Charles was missing part of his front leg, and she believed this man who built prosthetics for humans might be able to help her dog. Campana thought she was crazy—in 2004, pet prosthetics really didn’t exist.
But something about that Lab’s eyes got to him. He ended up building a custom device and the dog took off. Charles left the office with his tail wagging, running around on his new leg whilst his owner cried happy tears. It was the best feeling in the world, Campana recalls, experiencing a sense of fulfillment that was greater than what he’d ever felt by fitting prosthetics on humans. Right there, watching a three-legged dog become whole again, Derrick Campana discovered his calling. Dogs were born to run, and he’d found a way to give that back to them.
Campana has a Bachelor’s Degree in Kinesiology/Biomechanics from Penn State University and a Master’s Degree in Orthotics and Prosthetics from Northwestern University in the US. He’d built a solid career making prosthetics for humans, using his understanding of how bodies move and his artistic hands to craft devices that changed lives. But Charles changed everything. The year after fitting that first Lab, Campana started Animal Ortho Care, bringing human orthotic technology into the animal world. Later came Bionic Pets, his second company focusing specifically on prosthetics whilst Animal Ortho Care handled orthotics—braces and supports for animals who still had their limbs but needed help using them.
Since helping that first dog in 2005, Derrick has treated close to 35,000 furry patients by providing them with custom-designed mobility devices. Thirty-five thousand animals who got their lives back. Thirty-five thousand tails that started wagging again. Dogs make up most of his patients, but Campana has built legs for goats, cows, camels, llamas, raccoons, eagles, owls, cranes, even tortoises. He’s helped elephants in Indonesia and Africa, including Jabu, who received the world’s first elephant orthotic brace.
The work requires equal parts medical science and artistry. As a child, Campana was sculpting every day with plaster and other materials. Those artistic hands, combined with his left-brain understanding of biomechanics, made him perfectly suited for work that has no textbook, no established protocols. When Charles hobbled in, there were perhaps one or two people in the world attempting animal prosthetics. Campana was self-taught in veterinary prosthetics because there was no textbook showing how to do those things.
That meant lots of trial and error, especially in the early days. He recalled a dog named Evany with a high front leg amputation who required eight to ten attempts before Campana finally got the prosthetic to work and stay on. But when that dog finally walked, Campana realised he’d just broadened his patient base—every dog in the world with that same amputation level could now be helped.
The process starts with understanding what each dog needs. Every one of Bionic Pets’ prosthetics and orthotics is built to fit the pet’s specific needs, custom-made with high-quality materials. Most clients receive casting kits in the mail—instructions and materials to mould their dog’s limb or stump. They send the mould back to Campana’s “limb factory” in Sterling, Virginia, where he hand-sculpts each device using thermal and vacuum-formed technology to shape copolymer plastics to a custom fit. The plastics are highly adjustable and affordable, critical factors in veterinary medicine where pet insurance rarely covers prosthetics.
At first, it might take him a week to make one artificial limb; now he can do it in two to three hours. Speed matters when a dog’s quality of life hangs in the balance. The devices typically cost between $650 and $1,750—a fraction of what surgery might cost and often more effective. A dog with a torn ACL facing $5,000 surgery can instead wear a knee brace for a few months and heal without going under the knife.
But not every dog is a candidate. Campana says no to more people than he says yes to every day because of amputation level. The amputation needs to leave enough limb to work with, and the dog’s temperament matters too—they need to tolerate wearing the device. It’s a conversation Campana has honestly with every family, prioritising what’s genuinely best for each dog.
For dogs who are candidates, the transformation is remarkable. Campana says it’s hard not to cry seeing an animal walk for the first time, watching not only the animal regain their mobility but witnessing a family member come back to life for the caretakers. There’s usually lots of crying and happiness—it’s a feeling you get addicted to, he admits. That’s why he keeps doing this, recreating that moment over and over again for dogs and families.
Some cases stick with Campana. There’s Chi Chi, a rescue from China’s meat trade industry who came to Campana as a quadruple amputee. Each leg was amputated at a different level, meaning each prosthetic was unique and had to be fabricated individually. Campana fitted all four legs. Chi Chi went on to become a therapy dog working with human amputees and won the American Hero Dog Award. There’s Derby, and countless others whose names Campana remembers along with the specific challenge each presented.
The most common product Bionic Pets makes are stifle knee braces, generally used to aid in partial ACL tear treatment, providing support, mobility, comfort, and helping prevent more invasive treatments like surgery. Dogs are athletes, their entire lives built around movement. A torn ACL can devastate a dog’s world as thoroughly as it devastates a footballer’s. Campana’s braces give them back their game.
The physical distance doesn’t limit his reach. About 20 percent of clients come to the clinic in Sterling, Virginia USA, where Campana does the casting, fabrication, and fitting onsite. The rest order products online through a casting kit system. They ship casting kits all over the world, receiving moulds and hand-sculpting them into prosthetic and orthotic devices for all different species of animals. He’s making cranial helmets for Chihuahuas, cow legs, custom carts, using thermoplastics, 3D printing technology, even carbon fibre when needed.
Sometimes Campana takes his mobile limb lab on the road, going directly to families to cast, build, and fit the device right there. He says that’s the way it should be done—it’s a better way to do it. His most challenging job? Building a custom wheelchair for a tortoise. His most nerve-wracking? Casting a six-tonne elephant in Botswana, working underneath him trying to wrap about 100 rolls of fibreglass whilst being cautious of horses who want to kick.
There’s a common misconception that prosthetics are only for wealthy pet owners. Campana stresses the opposite is true—prosthetics can actually take the place of surgery and allow animals to heal in a different way without undergoing the knife. Compared to surgery, the cost of prosthetics and braces is significantly cheaper and often just as effective, if not better. It’s not about luxury; it’s about giving every dog who can benefit from the technology a chance to run again.
Campana is now working on opening Bionic Barn, a non-profit facility where pet owners can travel with their animals and stay onsite whilst their prosthetics are built. It’s the next evolution of his mission—making the process even more accessible, even more personal.
Animals are born to run, and Campana helps get them there. Every device he builds represents a dog who gets to chase balls again, run on the beach, play with children, and feel whole. It represents families who don’t have to watch their beloved companion struggle. It represents the profound belief that every animal deserves to walk and have a great life, just like people, and that all the technologies humans have developed should be available to the animals who share our lives.
Charles, that first black Labrador, changed Derrick Campana’s life. But in return, Campana has changed the lives of 35,000 animals and counting. One leg at a time, one tail wag at a time, he’s proving that the bond between humans and dogs runs so deep that we’ll build them new legs just to see them run again. And for any dog who’s ever looked up at their human with eyes that say “I want to run with you,” that’s everything.
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Note: Derrick no longer works with or owns Animal Ortho Care anymore.
