6/17/2005: Elephant doctoring

[Karenv]

Originally Posted by BigV

fer cryin out loud.

These guys have a crane to hold up the elephant, and yet, they're just trying to tighten the splint by hand tension?? What about a come-along? Or a Spanish Windlass (in the middle pic are two of them)? Or even a Trucker's hitch?

I don't think it is a crane, just a ceiling-mounted or high mounted hook. Bamboo is a great material for the splint, btw. In Bejing, all the supermodern skyscrapers under construction are clothed in bamboo scaffolding. For an elephant bamboo is strong, insulating and has a certain amount of flex while keeping the leg immobilized. Cheap too.

I'll bet they could do that to horses too. They might not recover as top racers, but they could still heal and do horse things again. In this day and age putting down a horse has more to do with insurance than with vetinary knowledge.