In February 2010, Cheat Lake Animal Hospital veterinarian Jesse Fallon delivered two lectures at an international wildlife veterinary conference at Madras Veterinary College in Chennai, India. More than 150 veterinarians from around the world—South Africa, France, Australia, the UK, Canada, Malaysia, and elsewhere—attended the conference. Lectures dealt with a wide variety of topics, from tuberculosis in Asian Elephants to anesthesia procedures for Striped Hyenas to controlling breeding among captive Marsh Crocodiles.

One of Dr. Fallon’s lectures, “Principles of Avian Orthopedic Management,” featured x-rays of several wildlife patients treated at Cheat Lake Animal Hospital, including an Eastern Screech-Owl with a humeral fracture, a Red-tailed Hawk with a broken ulna and radius, and a Cooper’s Hawk with a fractured ulna. Dr. Fallon discussed the techniques veterinarians could use to place pins into broken bird bones and how to stabilize the pins with external fixators to encourage healing.

A few days after returning home, Dr. Fallon received an email from a veterinarian in Goa, India, who works for a wildlife rescue organization. The vet had a patient—a Spotted Owlet—with a humeral fracture, and he had a few questions about the surgery. Dr. Fallon was able to send him x-rays of the Screech-Owl treated at CLAH as a reference. It’s amazing that a little Screech-Owl from West Virginia is going to help a Spotted Owlet with the same injury, halfway around the world in southern India.

Dr. Fallon and his wife Katie had an incredible time visiting Madras Veterinary College—generous hosts, delicious food, gorgeous weather, and lots of new friends!