Hero is a 3 year old "Pets as Therapy" Golden Retriever who has developed debilitating and painful hip dysplasia, a form of arthritis. On Friday the 28th of November, Dr Angus Ross, veterinary surgeon at Ku-Ring-Gai Veterinary Hospital, will be using stem cell technology to treat his disease.

Hero, who is a much loved constant companion for a young disabled boy, has visited a number of orthopaedic veterinarians and at present is on constant medication to control his arthritic pain. With the assistance of the Variety Club and Ku-Ring-Gai Veterinary hospital, Hero’s family is driving him from Queensland to Sydney to have this procedure done.

In an Australian technological breakthrough for pets, veterinarians at Ku-Ring-Gai Veterinary Hospital are now utilising autologous (the pet's own cells) stem cell grafts to assist in the control of debilitating arthritis. The technology allows stem cells that are taken from a pet’s own fat, often by minimally invasive liposuction, to be purified and placed into the diseased joints resulting in marked improvements in comfort, agility and quality of life.

Stem cell grafts and transplants are also showing broad ranging clinical capabilities for animals in the areas of tendon disease, cardiac disease, eye disease and organ failure.