Lisa Milella
Veterinary Dental
Fund
Introduction
International Animal Rescue are extremely lucky to have the skilled support of trustee Lisa Milella, a specialist veterinary dentist who, for many years, carried out difficult dental surgery on rescued animals.
Lisa has performed root canal treatment for our rescued dancing bears in India and over 50 slow lorises in Indonesia. The lorises had had their teeth clipped by traders and were destined for the illegal pet trade. Due to Lisa’s specialist expertise, she has also worked on two tigers in India with abscesses in their mouths and a lion.
In 2012, Lisa was diagnosed with motor neurone disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease with an average life expectancy of five years. Since her diagnosis, Lisa decided to close down her veterinary dental business and dedicate her life to treating injured animals with International Animal Rescue.
If you’d like to contribute to the fund, or feel you could be a beneficiary, please do get in touch.
A message from Lisa
“I have been very fortunate over the years to have been able to perform dentistry work on some of the most incredible animals in the world through my involvement with International Animal Rescue.
After being diagnosed with motor neurone disease I have been unable to carry on the work physically but didn’t want this work to stop, so I have decided to set up a veterinary dental fund to enable those animals desperately requiring dental care to have the treatment they need.
The aim of this fund is to provide dental care to animals that have been rescued from sometimes horrendous situations and give them some quality of life, free from pain and infection. Dental disease is often not diagnosed or not seen to be a primary problem, but it affects these animals in many more ways than we realise.
Through our work over the years treating hundreds of animals with dental problems, we have been able to educate vets we have worked with at various sanctuaries about dental issues in rescued animals and shown them how to treat them. Unfortunately, not all of this work can be done by primary care vets and specialist treatment is often required. The aim is that the veterinary dental fund will be a central body, which can be approached by recognised animal charities whose animals need dental care and which then has a core of willing, experienced veterinary dentists to carry out this work.
Providing veterinary oral care should be a vital part of every animal’s health care regime and it is our duty to provide the animals in our care with this treatment. Educating animal carers/medics is essential to ensure each animal gets the care it needs. Recognising dental and oral problems is one of the primary aims of the fund.
Unfortunately, specialist veterinary dentistry does require an array of equipment and a specific skill set to treat all the various species, which is why we have set up a fund and would be grateful for any donations received to help animals in this way.”