A celebration of three-legged dogs
The odds of seeing a dozen three-legged dogs on the same day are rare, but that was the scene Saturday at California’s Mill Valley Dog Park.
It was the monthly meeting of the Northern California chapter of Tripawds, an online community for canine amputees and their owners.
The members started getting together about three years ago, Ralph Kanz of Oakland, who cares for three, three-legged German Shepherds, told the Marin Independent Journal.
The dogs played, socialized and ate a cake made from peanut butter, bananas and bacon, brought along by one San Francisco member.
Referred to as tripods by many owners, some of the dogs had lost limbs due to accidents, others due to cancerous tumors.
Jim Nelson and Rene Agredano created Tripawds.com after their German Shepherd, Jerry, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in 2006 and had to have a front leg amputated.
“For a lot of people, it’s a shock to see a tripod,” Agredano said. “What we do is we try to change their reaction from pity to amazement and get them to see these dogs don’t care.”
“When you see these dogs getting along on three legs and not caring about anything except having a good time, it’s a great reminder that we should all live our lives like that,” Agredano added.
(Photo: Angie McGraw of Novato pets Lylee, a 12-year-old dog who lost a leg to bone cancer. McGraw’s dog. Sadie, stands behind her; by Alan Dep / Marin Independent Journal.)
Posted by jwoestendiek April 16th, 2012 under Muttsblog.
Tags: accidents, amputate, amputations, amputees, animals, california, cancer, canine, club, community, dog park, dogs, health, jim nelson, legs, marin, mill valley, online, pets, rene agredano, resilience, surgery, three legs, three-legged, tripawd, tripod, website
Comments
Comment from Julie
Time April 18, 2012 at 9:41 pm
My little 3 pound chichuaua jumped out of the truck in January. My vet put a cast on her thinking the leg would mend. After 6 weeks it was x-rayed and no healing at all. I took her to an orthopedic surgeon and he acted like it would be no problem to operate and she would be healed. Well, 13 weeks later, $3000 spent and alot of headaches later the cast came off yesterday and the bones had not mended. The doctor wanted to operate again but I can’t put her through any more pain and discomfort. I am just so scared about the amputation. It is her front leg and she is so little. I just cry when I think about it. I worked for a vet for 16 years and saw numerous amputations but it is different when it’s your own baby.
Comment from ada
Time April 22, 2012 at 2:43 pm
Omigosh I wish I could have been there!!! Check out my blog!
Comment from doglady521
Time May 11, 2012 at 8:32 am
julie you know that leg needs to come off or your baby could get deathly sick or even die it should have been took off the fist time
Comment from Carol Dalton
Time May 13, 2012 at 2:18 am
I have a three legged whippet who lost her leg after an accident in the garden. She suffered weeks of pain as we tried to save her leg but to no avail. It amazed me the way she coped and never one felt sorry for herself. Now she can still outrun any dog she meets. I would have loved to have been there and met more dogs like Libby.
Comment from Sue
Time April 16, 2012 at 7:20 am
Loved reading this. My three legger, Ben, lost a back leg to cancer and got along so well that most folks never noticed a leg was missing.