Meet this Virginia animal prosthetics specialist who provides animals with restricted mobility a second chance at life by developing unique mechanical limbs—giving them the chance to walk again.

Through his charity, Bionic Pets, Derrick Campana, 43, has improved the lives of approximately 35,000 animals, including dogs, goats, cows, camels, raccoons and elephants.

“All animals deserve to walk and enjoy a beautiful life, just like people,” Campana, who appears in the television series “The Wizard of Paws,” told The Epoch Times. “All these technology, all these things that we have, animals should have.”

Campana’s aim to aid animals in distress began roughly 18 years ago. One day, the owner of a black Labrador retriever arrived into her workplace, where she builds prosthetics for people, and told her that she wanted a prosthesis for her dog, Charles. At that time, Campana did not know or had seen an animal with a prosthesis, for which she was amused.

Rather than ditch the concept totally, though, Campana took a week and built it from scratch.

“It took me a long time to construct my first device since it was so strange to me, I didn’t know what I was doing,” he added. “While I had all the skills to create human prosthetics, it was extremely different.”

“In a manner I had to develop the whole process and figure out what would work good for an animal,” he continued.

“Everything I learned on the human side, I wanted to offer to the veterinary side, and it was simply this fully open market,” he added. “I am also an entrepreneur at heart, and I adore making things with my hands.”

Believing he had a “talent for this,” Campana worked more with Charles’s owner, a veterinarian who comes across numerous damaged dogs and brings him these diverse cases.

“When I finally got it to work, to get it upright, and the dog to walk, I was really thrilled because I found out that there are many more dogs in the world who require precisely the same sort of treatment,” he added. “I recognized that I had just extended my patient base.”

“He is 9 years old and he loves coming with me to the different sanctuaries,” adds Campana. “My youngest kid is still 3 years old, so he doesn’t comprehend anything, but he loves to watch my program. He’s usually watching TV and commenting, ‘Well, Daddy saves the animals. He is making legs for the animals.’”

And what’s next for this busy businessman? He is now working on developing a non-profit company called the Bionic Barn: a facility that will allow pet owners to travel with their animals, large or little, and remain on site while their prosthetics are being built.

“People will be able to observe what we do and experience the full process,” discloses Campana. “We’re also going to have some robot animals.”

He also wants to form an accrediting agency to standardize the business, as there aren’t many standards at the present, he stated.