A carrier sling for supporting and carrying a four-legged animal off the ground and preventing bending stresses along the axis of the animal's spine, comprising:
- a sling formed of a generally rectangular panel of flexible stretch resistant fabric material having opposed front and rear longer sides of sufficient length to extend around lateral sides and a distance above the back and spine of the animal, opposed shorter sides at each end thereof of sufficient width to extend along an underside of the animal including shoulder and hip areas of the animal, and a longitudinally extending loop formed along outer ends of each of said shorter sides, said stretch resistant material being resistant to stretching and deformation in at least the direction that extends around the lateral sides and a distance above the back and spine of the animal;
- a pair of foreleg openings and a pair of back leg openings formed in said panel for receiving forelegs and back legs of the animal, and a genital opening formed in said panel a distance inwardly from said back leg openings,
- a first and a second rigid support rod or tube each disposed in a respective said longitudinally extending loop with opposed outer ends thereof extending outwardly of said longitudinally extending loop, and an end cap mounted on the respective opposed outer end;
- a pair of inverted generally U-shaped webbing strap handles, each secured to a respective said shorter side of said panel intermediate said longer front and rear sides, each said handle having a lower portion straddling said longitudinally extending loop and secured together above and below said longitudinally extending loop and said rigid support rod or tube disposed therein, such that when said handles are placed together and gripped by a user in a lifting and hand supporting position, said rigid support rods or tubes are drawn together in a generally parallel horizontal relation with one another;
- a first and a second webbing strap secured to each of said shorter sides adjacent a corner thereof, each having lower ends straddling said longitudinally extending loop and secured together above and below said longitudinally extending loop and said rigid support rod or tube disposed therein, and each having a rigid generally rectangular loop member with a first side secured in an upper end thereof above said longitudinally extending loop and said support rod or tube disposed therein;
- and
- an elongate adjustable length shoulder strap formed of webbing mounted through each said rigid rectangular loop member such that said rigid support rods or tubes are drawn together in a generally parallel horizontal relation with one another in a lifting and shoulder supporting position;
- in either of said lifting and hand supporting position or lifting and shoulder supporting position, the forelegs, back legs, and genitalia, of the animal extend through said foreleg, back leg, and genital openings, said sling extends around the lateral sides of the animal and along the underside of the animal's trunk including the shoulder and hip areas to evenly distribute and support the weight of the animal's body, and said rigid support rods or tubes are disposed closely together in a generally parallel horizontal relation a distance above the animal's back and spine and extend longitudinally substantially the length of the animal's back and spine;
- such that
- the combination of said rigid support rods or tubes above the length of the animal's back and spine and the stretch resistant properties of said flexible stretch resistant fabric material disposed along the underside and around lateral sides of the animal's trunk including the shoulder and hip areas substantially prevents sagging and maintains the axis of the animal's spine substantially straight to prevent bending stresses along the axis of the animal's spine.