In their line of work, rescuers of the charitable institution Hope For Paws encounter many injured animals. Oftentimes, they recognize what caused the injuries. Sometimes, however, they come across surprising cases.
JoAnn Wiltz, one of the head rescuers of the said group, responded to one such case on this specific rescue. The email Hope For Paws received mentioned that the dog limped across a busy street. JoAnn immediately headed out to save the dog.
The rescuer found the dog, a young husky, already secured by Good Samaritans. She felt concerned when she saw one of the pup’s front paws. After thanking the helpful neighbors, she sped back to the animal care center to get the pooch examined.
Upon arriving at the vet’s office, JoAnn immediately had the husky, who she named Smitty, undergo a medical examination. Amazingly, the vets found no broken bones in his front paw. Smitty instead had radial agenesis, a condition where his right front leg’s radius did not develop normally at birth.
The vets decided against amputating Smitty’s leg as he still uses it for balance even in its state. Aside from that, the dog received a clean bill of health. Smitty then proceeded with the next steps of his new beginning.
JoAnn and her colleague, Alex Babcock, made sure Smitty smelled and felt fresh by giving him a nice bath. They then contacted their partner organization, Hollywood Huskies, and arranged the dog’s foster care. In no time, Smitty settled in with his temporary family.
Smitty showed great resilience and a happy-go-lucky attitude even with his disability. He held his own in doing zoomies like his foster care mates. He joyfully ran around the foster home’s grounds on all four legs.
Smitty, however, only stayed with his foster family briefly because he found his forever home in no time. Smitty now lives with his fur dad, Benjamin, and he happily runs and bounces around in his new yard, even on his bad leg.
Credits: Hope For Paws and Hollywood Huskies