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Rescuing a partially paralyzed dog.
Last January, Chattanooga, Tennessee animal control responded to a call about an abandoned, frightened dog hiding under a car.
When they arrived, they found the dog, unable to walk, and covered in oil drippings.
They brought him to the McKamey Animal Shelter, where a veterinarian concluded he had been hit in traffic, and had dragged himself under that car.
His spinal cord was injured, and he could not move his back legs, control his bowels, or wag his tail.
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Over the next several months, the shelter gave him excellent medical care, and placed him in a doggie wheelchair, which he heartily used.
They named him, "Ward the Wunderdog."
Kellyn Murphy, a physical therapy assistant, and her husband Matt fell in love with Ward, and adopted him.
"As soon as I saw him," Kellyn told The Washington Post, "It became my goal to get him moving and standing."
"I spend my days helping people do these things, and I thought I could also help Ward."
The Murphys brought Ward home and he got along well with their other three dogs.
Kellyn stretches Ward daily, and gently exercises his paralyzed back legs. He has hydrotherapy sessions as well, and she walks him in his wheelchair.
Kellyn modified an adult walker to help him standup.
Ward can now wag his tail, meaning he has feeling in his hind end. And while being held up by his walker, he has begun taking small steps on his own.
Kellyn's goal is to make Ward a therapy dog, visiting people with mobility issues.
"He's fun-loving, determined and incredibly calm, and he brings a lot of joy to everyone who meets him," said Kellyn. "I think he'd be a natural at it."
Editor's Note:
To learn more washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/2023/08/20/dog-adoptparalyzed-wagstail/.
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