A community in Winchester, Virginia has raised money to help a puppy get prosthetics.
Hope, a ten-week old puppy, was born without full formed paw pads on her rear legs. This has made her body off-balance, as she can’t stand up straight, which has the potential to cause spinal damage in the future.
Greg Vorhees, one of Hope’s foster parents, started a crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with Dakota’s Dream, a non-profit animal rescue, to help raise money for the prosthetic limbs. The cost for such a procedure can be as much as $10,000. The campaign involved the sale of T-shirts, in which all funds raised go directly to Hope’s medical expenses. As of this writing, over $3,000 has been raised thanks to the campaign. All together, Winchester locals have raised over $5,000 to help with medical expenses.
After Hope is outfitted with the prosthetic limbs in the near future, her foster parents intend to take the puppy to see children with prosthetics and train her to be a therapy dog. Once Hope grows out of the prosthetics, they may be donated to another dog who needs them.