Little Dog in a Big World

Posts Tagged ‘Dog Wheelchairs’

HandicappedPets had asked me for my phone number so that they could give me an update. One morning, the phone rang. But, it wasn’t HandicappedPets, it was the school teacher, Kathy Barton!

She called to personally inform me that her class had done well on it’s fundraiser. They did so well that they were able to purchase 5 dog wheel chairs and 1 cat wheel chair.

But that wasn’t all! One of the dogs who was getting a wheel chair was Sierra!

I was in shock. Not only could I not believe they met their goal, but I could not believe that these school kids in Oklahoma were going to help my 3 legged dog. It was so excited. I practically burst out in tears on the spot.

We had a lovely chat. All I had to do was wait for an email from HandicappedPets and I could order the wheel chair. My dog was going to get another chance to go out front and smell the breeze. It was so exciting!!!!

At the beginning of May, I got an update about the fundraising efforts. A teacher named Kathy Barton was doing the fundraiser as a class project. These were 4th graders and their goal was to raise $3000.

I wasn’t really sure about this. My skepticism remained high. Could kids really raise enough money so that several dogs and cats could get wheel chairs?

The end of the school year was nearing. I would know soon enough.

Sierra has done really well with three legs. It’s been 3 years since her amputation. Despite the arthritis she still gets around.

At the end of March, all that changed. She was plagued with constipation. The effort made her back leg weak. While she was able to get around the house, going for a walk was no longer possible. Linoleum floors were too difficult to navigate. Standing in place was just too painful.

I looked around the web and found out that dog wheel chairs were really expensive! I could never come up with the $400+ to get one for Sierra. Because Sierra is a large dog, the prices were even higher.

A friend was helping me comb the web for deals. Even used chairs were expensive because Sierra is over 60 lbs. It was really disheartening.

I found a group called the Handicapped Pets Foundation (hpets.org) who try to help people who can’t afford wheel chairs get them for their pets. They didn’t have any fundraisers going on, but would keep Sierra’s name on file.

They contacted a couple of weeks later. A group was going to be doing a fundraiser and would I like Sierra to be put on their list. Of course I did!

I didn’t want to get my hopes up. Perhaps there were many pets on the list waiting for chairs. Sierra might not be able to get one. So, I held hope with a dose of healthy skepticism. Not wanting to be too disappointed in the end if she didn’t get one.