Although Dr. Lincoln Parkes retired from his duties as a veterinarian 27 years ago, his days of helping out dogs were far from over. When he retired at age 63, he was only retiring from being a practicing veterinarian, but he still had the desire to do whatever he could to help animals that need it.
Because of how much he cares for dogs, Dr. Parkes has spent the last 27 years of his life helping out disabled dogs. At age 90 today, he is still going strong and working to make sure that disabled dogs can live normal, healthy lives.
Lester is one of the dogs that Dr. Parkes has been able to help out. Lester is a corgi that has a spinal disorder which his owner, Ileana Moya, said is not uncommon with the specific breed. “I thought I was going to lose him for sure,” she said. Fortunately, Dr. Parkes has spent decades now building carts that allow disabled dogs to get along even when they are missing rear legs or can’t use them.
Another one of Dr. Parkes’ many clients was dog owner Lynne Spector, whose dog Milo was living a very unfulfilling life, just lying around after losing the use of his rear legs. With the help of Dr Parkes, however, Milo went back to happily chasing animals around her backyard again. Dr. Parkes is “a lifesaver to all these animals,” Spector said.
Dr. Parkes continues to optimize his proprietary design and said that a new version was going to be even better than those before it. In the meantime, he shrugs off the idea that he could be monetarily profiting from the carts he spends up to 10 hours per day building. “When I see them run out the door after being carried in, that’s my paycheck,” he said.