David and Diana Vowels are helping animals regain mobility with Pet Ortho Braces, a Scottsdale-based business that provides custom orthotic braces to veterinarians and pet owners.
Pet Ortho Braces focuses on providing non-surgical treatment for dogs with torn canine crucial ligament injuries. It also makes carpal, hock and elbow braces, prosthetics and wheelchairs for pets, in addition to custom braces for horses and other animals.
“Any animal that has a torn ligament, fracture, arthritis or any type of orthopedic abnormality or dysfunction we can treat,” said David Vowels, president of Pet Ortho Braces. “I've had calls for horses, pigs, goats, chickens, ducks and cats.”
Vowels, a certified prosthetist and orthotist, said he has made more than 300 custom braces for animals since launching Pet Ortho Braces in 2022.
“These are all handmade by me,” he said, referring to the company's custom braces. “I'm evaluating the dog. I’m taking their measurements, going in the back of the shop, and I'm physically handmaking these for each individual dog, which is why we have a good fit and good results.”
Pet Ortho Braces
When humans tear an ACL, they’ll undergo surgery to reconstruct the torn ligament, in addition to wearing a knee brace. But if dogs tear their cranial cruciate ligament, their tendon is too delicate to repair, David Vowels said.
That's when custom orthotic braces come into play, helping to stabilize an animal's joint so that scar tissue can form around the knee joint and heal in alignment, he added.
“Dogs have this unique ability to form scar tissue around the knee and really tighten everything up,” he said. “That's what they look for during and after surgery. And [scar tissue] is what we get after bracing. So it's the same goal. We're just doing it non- surgically, as an alternative to surgery.”
From a tech exec to a startup for pets
In January, Diana Vowels stepped down as CEO of StartupAZ after nearly two years at the helm of the organization to focus on operating Pet Ortho Braces.
She serves as Pet Ortho Braces’ chief operating officer, providing strategic planning and operational guidance, while David Vowels provides on-site and video consultations with clients to develop treatment plans, according to the company's website.
Diana Vowels said the company sees future potential to either expand Pet Ortho Braces’ clinic or create a franchise model by hiring and training additional CPOs.
“Where I see the opportunity here is to be able to take Dave’s clinical expertise, and be able to either expand in our own clinic and bring other CPOs on board and teach them the process,” she said. “If they've done prosthetics and orthotics for years like Dave, it’s a relatively easy transition.”
David Vowels has more than 20 years of experience evaluating, designing and fitting prosthetics and orthotics. The Vowels previously operated Hamilton Prosthetics & Orthotics, which they sold in 2015.
“For the following years after we sold the business, I moved into the tech and startup world,” Diana Vowels said. “About three years ago, Dave started working with animals and testing some of the designs he had done with bracing for humans on animals and he got super interested in it.”
The Vowels met Mark Robinson, creator of animal wheelchair companies Walkin’ Pets and Handicapped Pets and learned of an opportunity for a custom animal brace business. They opened Pet Ortho Braces as a division of Walkin’ Pets in July 2022.
After United Kingdom-based Lintbells acquired Walkin’ Pets in December 2022, the Vowels bought out the original investor of Pet Ortho Braces and took over full ownership of the division in July 2023, Diana Vowels said. Robinson remains an advisor for the company.
David Vowels aims to lead educational lectures on animal orthotic bracing at veterinary schools and universities. He’s already been in discussions with the University of Arizona and Midwestern University's College of Veterinary Medicine for potential lecture opportunities.
“I love to teach and lecture, so I would like to get into the veterinary schools in Arizona and surrounding states and start making graduating students more aware of this topic, and possibly even create a course that will focus just on orthopedic bracing for small and large animals," he said.
While operating Pet Ortho Braces differs from working in the technology sector, Diana Vowels is looking forward to expanding the company's presence in the animal mobility industry.
“Who doesn't want to work with dogs every day? It's great," she said. "It's about an entrepreneurial opportunity. It's an opportunity to serve the client well and it can succeed … And that's why I'm super excited.”
