Dog With Frostbite Damage To Paws Gets To Run, Play
LOVELAND, Colo. (CBS4)- Brutus finally gets the chance to run and play on the grass after being confined to carpeted areas for most of his life. Now, he's able to walk without pain thanks to the help of Colorado State University and generous donors.
Brutus, a Rottweiler, was bred by a backyard breeder before his rescue in Canon City. He suffered frostbite as a puppy and his previous owners cut off his toes. That left him in pain when he tried to walk.
"He was left outside in the cold, he developed frostbite and they performed an at-home amputation," said his foster mother turned owner Laura Aquilina.
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Brutus now lives in Loveland with Aquilina along with his new set of legs that help him walk without pain.
Aquilina teamed up with a pet rescuer in Canon City to start "Better Paws for Brutus" a crowdfunding site that helped raise more than $12,000 to put him back on his feet.
Brutus is only the second dog ever known to receive four prosthetic limbs. The robo-paws protect him from pain, support his front legs and realign each leg to an equal length.
OrthoPets, an animal prosthetics developer in Denver and pet orthopedics experts at CSU's James L. Voss Veterinary Teaching Hospital, developed the new legs for Brutus.
"I don't want to be part of a world that settles for 'fine,' and neither does CSU," OrthoPets founder Martin Kaufmann said. "There's a common mission between CSU and OrthoPets to return animals' lives to 'great.'"
Aquilina said the work isn't over to help Brutus learn how to use his new legs. He will undergo therapy including underwater therapy to help him adjust to his new limbs.
Now his life will change from being confined to a single, carpeted room to knowing the freedom of any other dog. Eventually his trainers hope to get him playing with other dogs and maybe even go hiking.
