Animals benefit from pin-point accuracy
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China Daily, June 12, 2012
When an injured Red-footed Falcon was brought into the Raptor Rescue Center at the Beijing International Fund for Animal Welfare three years ago, the dove-sized creature couldn't stand or hold onto branches with its talons. When the bird was diagnosed with a paralyzed left claw, almost all the veterinarians who specialized in Western medicine shook their heads and concluded that there was no suitable treatment.
![Chen Wu, a professor with Beijing University of Agriculture, treats a dog with acupuncture in Beijing last month. [ Photo / China Daily ]](http://images.china.cn/attachement/jpg/site1007/20120612/0019b93bd68d1140e41501.jpg "Chen Wu, a professor with Beijing University of Agriculture, treats a dog with acupuncture in Beijing last month. [ Photo / China Daily ]") |
|
Chen Wu, a professor with Beijing University of Agriculture, treats a dog with acupuncture in Beijing last month. [ Photo / China Daily ] |
"The functions of a raptor's talons are beyond people's imagination - without them, it couldn't support itself because it wouldn't be able to compete for food with other birds of prey," said Li Ying, a vet and a member of the center.
"It simply wouldn't survive in the wild, which is our ultimate goal," Li said.
In terms of treatment, Li took a different view to her colleagues, and a few needles and herbal treatment saved the bird's life. Li took the falcon to her alma mater, Beijing University of Agriculture, three times a week over a three-month period. There, during a typical 20-minute session, Li's teacher Chen Wu, who is also the deputy secretary-general of the Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine Society, inserted needles into four acupuncture points on the raptor's left talon.
"It reacted the first time we connected it to the electric acupuncture machine. The bird's left claw made grabbing movements," Li said.
After the session, the falcon underwent physical rehabilitation treatment every second day, standing in water heated to 45 C and mixed with extract of saffron, a traditional herbal remedy known to invigorate the circulatory system. By the end of three months, the falcon was brimming with energy and was returned to the wild in 2010.
Elsewhere in Beijing, veterinarians are hooking dogs and cats to electric acupuncture machines, treating them with homeopathic remedies, feeding them traditional Chinese herbal medicines and even spraying herbs such as lavender, lemon and eucalyptus in the name of aromatherapy. Traditional Chinese medicine is back in fashion, but this time, it's focused on the pet industry.
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)