Leg brace helps llama survive

FERNDALE, Wash. – For Tim Shride, helping a toddler with a crippling leg injury is fairly routine.

But Shride, who makes braces and prosthetic limbs for Ferndale’s Cascade Prosthetics & Orthotics Inc., said fitting a 10-month-old llama with a custom leg brace was a first.

Monroe is one of 41 llamas seized from a Ferndale-area field in a neglect investigation in March. Adult llamas trampled the infant as they exited a trailer taking them to new homes.

The incident shattered his left hind leg, said Lynn Larson, who took in eight of the rescued llamas, including Monroe. Larson owns Denlyn Alpaca Ranch in Ferndale with her husband, Dennis.

Veterinarian Christine Monroe, a friend of Larson’s, agreed to perform surgery at no cost, saving the animal’s leg. In recognition, the llama was named after the doctor.

But after the surgery, the animal favored his right hind leg, eventually injuring the ligaments and putting him at risk again of becoming crippled.

Larson asked Cascade, which makes braces and prosthetics that help people walk, to create a brace to support Monroe’s right hind leg during the healing process.

“We were happy to step in and help,” said Shride, who crafted the brace pro bono. “It’s fun to work with animals.”

Braces can cost hundreds of dollars, he said.

Dr. Monroe oversaw the llama’s sedation while Shride cast its thin, fragile leg in plaster to make the custom brace.

“He tolerated the whole thing very well,” Shride said. “The real challenge was getting the brace at the right angle for him to walk.”

“His walking is still labored, but he’s doing a lot better,” Larson said recently. “We might have had to euthanize him (otherwise).”

Larson said the family raises alpacas for their fiber, but took in the llamas purely as pets.

“It was purely for the love of the animals,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun for (my) kids.”

Larson said Monroe will wear the brace indefinitely.

Lanette E. Smith, who owned the allegedly neglected llama herd, was charged in March with eight felony counts of animal cruelty for animals that died. A trial is scheduled to begin Dec. 10.