Good news for all you lovers of animals and Animal Ortho Care– we're doing a short-run series with Mashable featuring stories about some of our favorite patients. You can check out the first installment of "Pawsthetics" above featuring Chili, a 10-year-old Irish Setter and bone cancer survivor who's living a much more active senior life thanks to her custom prosthetic.

We recently asked Narineh Melkonian, associate producer at Mashable Studios, about what inspired the creation of the series and why she and the Mashable team are excited to work with Animal Ortho Care. Here's what she shared:

How did Mashable learn about Animal Ortho Care?

At first, all we knew was that we wanted to have a project showcasing the technology behind animal prosthetics and orthotics. Once I started to research the industry online I kept hearing Derrick Campana’s name [the founder of Animal Ortho Care], whether it was mentioned in an articles, photo captions or demonstrative videos. It became evident pretty quickly that he was the go-to guy in the industry. After speaking with Animal Ortho Care, we later found out that they had a huge part in actually building the industry, from inventing new products to pushing for practicing certifications.

How does the work Animal Ortho Care is doing fit in with your mission at Mashable?

At Mashable, we like to create content informing our viewers about the latest in technology, culture and entertainment. Once we learned about Animal Ortho Care, we knew it was a story we wanted to tell due to the technology involved in the orthotics and prosthetics and the innovative materials used to make them. In addition, we were excited to talk to someone who is a pioneer in the industry and who is setting the standard for others.

What inspired you to reach out to the AOC team?

After piecing together some information about the AOC team from online sources, we wanted to take a deeper dive and learn more about this practice, methods, and facility for ourselves. We thought that such a unique and niche industry must have a great story behind it, and we were right! Once we reached out, we realized what a unique opportunity this was and jumped on it.

Can you tell me the story behind Pawsthetics? What will you be doing with this series?

PAWSTHETICS is a short video series featuring several of AOC's patients ranging from pet species to exotic animals (stay tuned in the coming weeks to find out which species we feature!)

In addition to telling their individual stories, we focus on how AOC approached creating each specific prosthetic for the patient’s particular needs. For example, in our first episode AOC reveals how they approached Chili the Irish Setter’s prosthetic to satisfy her needs shaped by osteosarcoma (bone cancer.) We wanted to highlight how his creativity and technological innovations allow him to customize his work to help each of his patients.

You can view PAWSTHETICS episodes both on our website Mashable.com as well as on our Mashable YouTube channel.

Why were you interested in sharing these stories? How do you think the work the AOC team does will resonate with your audience?

The AOC team has a straightforward goal, which is to help animals. We knew that their passion for what they do would come across clearly if we interviewed them in their facility and recorded them during their everyday routine.  This simple and authentic approach allowed us to be a fly on the wall and let them connect directly with our audience.

It wasn’t until after we spent time with the Animal Ortho Care team that we realized just how important sharing these animals’ stories is.  The opportunity goes beyond telling the individual narratives, as it also helps inform the public of available options for assisting their pets in need.