Equipped with a new set of wheels, a number of disabled dogs at an animal shelter in Taiwan can finally walk and run once again. The wheelchairs that are aiding their movement were designed by Pan Chieh, who came up with this cost-effective design to counter the exorbitantly expensive commercial wheelchairs sold at veterinary hospitals.

“The first dog recovered completely after using the wheelchair, which gave me a lot of confidence,” Pan told Reuters. “So I kept looking for new materials to use and I did research to make improvements.” He experimented with heavy wooden models before moving on to the customisable plastic water-pipe design. The current wheelchairs, which can be used for dogs and cats, cost less than one-third of commercially available models.

The 40-year-old Chieh and his girlfriend visit animal shelters and pet owners on weekends with their design, and often offer free wheelchairs when the animals in need don’t have any sponsors.