A special fund being launched at the London Vet Show on Thursday 15 November has been set up to continue the pioneering work of an inspirational woman renowned for her expertise as a veterinary dental specialist. For the past 13 years Lisa Milella BVSc, DipEVDC, MRCVS has donated her free time to working with UK charity International Animal Rescue (IAR) and performing dental surgery on some of the world’s most exotic wild animals. Most of these animals have been rescued from horrendous conditions and suffered terrible cruelty and abuse at the hands of human beings.
Having been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease nearly five years ago, Lisa has now established the Lisa Milella Veterinary Dental Fund (LMVDF) to ensure her ground-breaking work continues to help animals in desperate need of dental treatment for years to come.
A special fund being launched at the London Vet Show on Thursday 15 November has been set up to continue the pioneering work of an inspirational woman renowned for her expertise as a veterinary dental specialist. For the past 13 years Lisa Milella BVSc, DipEVDC, MRCVS has donated her free time to working with UK charity International Animal Rescue (IAR) and performing dental surgery on some of the world’s most exotic wild animals. Most of these animals have been rescued from horrendous conditions and suffered terrible cruelty and abuse at the hands of human beings.
Having been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease nearly five years ago, Lisa has now established the Lisa Milella Veterinary Dental Fund (LMVDF) to ensure her ground-breaking work continues to help animals in desperate need of dental treatment for years to come.
The Fund is being launched on Thursday 15th November at the London Vet Show and Lisa will be making a special appearance there on Friday 16th to explain the aims of the Fund and urge individuals, and corporations in particular, to contribute generously to it.
Such is Lisa’s passion and dedication to helping suffering animals that she is bequeathing a substantial amount of her own estate to the Fund in her Will. Once sufficient funds have been raised for it to become operational, animal charities will be able to apply to the Fund for help treating animals with serious dental issues. Veterinary dentists will also be invited to support the Fund by using their skills and expertise to treat those cases that are accepted.
Lisa first began working with IAR in 2005 when she travelled to India to relieve the pain of rescued dancing bears whose teeth had been knocked out by their handlers to make them easier to control. Working with dentist Paul Cassar, an IAR Trustee, the pair carried out pioneering surgery on the bears’ damaged teeth and gums, performing root canal treatment to retain the integrity of the animals’ jaws. Since then the pair have made numerous trips to India to relieve the pain of dozens of dancing bears suffering from infections, abscesses and bony growths.
Following the challenge of operating on the massive teeth of Indian sloth bears, Lisa turned her attention to tiny slow lorises in Indonesia whose teeth are clipped off by market traders before they are sold as pets. She has also treated rescued circus tigers in India and a diabetic orangutan in Borneo that had been kept as a pet and fed for years on a diet of sweets and fizzy drinks. Lisa’s tireless work left all her patients with a vastly improved quality of life, free from pain and infection. Now she is determined to ensure her legacy lives on through the Fund and provides suffering animals with the same vital service for years to come.
The Fund will be managed and administered by a panel of veterinary experts under the umbrella of International Animal Rescue.
Alan Knight OBE, IAR Chief Executive, said: “Lisa is an extraordinary person who has used her exceptional skills to relieve the suffering of countless animals around the world. I feel privileged to count her as a colleague and a close friend. I hope the many individuals and corporations she has worked with over the years and indeed those who learn of her achievements through the Fund will elect to honour her professional expertise and her personal courage by making a generous contribution to it. I can’t think of a more fitting way of paying tribute to everything she has accomplished during her life and her career.”
If you would like to find out more about the fund, please visit here