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WEEKLY NEWS 3: A Dog’s Prayer

We all know that technology today is more advanced than ever before. In fact, a new breakthrough in the medical field is making and replacing human organs and limbs with artificial ones. What you may not have known is that animals can get in on the action, too.

In Ann Arbor, Michigan, six-year-old Shepard mix Footsie was unable to behave as normal dogs do--until now. Born without his two hind paws, Footsie had no hope of being normal, and being able to run and jump and fetch as other dogs do. That lost hope no longer exists for Footsie or his adopted owner, Helen Depinto. Believe it or not, after a year of research and experimentation, Footsie now has two hind legs courtesy of Prothetist Steve Hoover and Orthotist Kenneth Woodward.

Hoover and Woodward used a procedure, vacuum forming, to produce the prosthetic legs for Footsie with materials that include plastic, foam, treaded shell and Velcro for the strap. Footsie’s paws are not the same as those dogs born with all four paws, but almost just as functional. With the procedure complete just two weeks ago, Depinto, the owner, and Footsie are more than happy and thankful for the results, stating that the doctors hit a “home run.”

Footsie has overcome the odds and has been working for a little over two and a half years as an inspiration and motivation to brain injured patients at Rainbow Rehabilitation Centers. Footsie plays with the patients and is employed as a certified therapy dog in Michigan. Thanks to technology and medical advancement, a once handicapped dog is now able to live his life as a dog should.

--Written by Christina Newman

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