Tumbles, a puppy born without his two front legs, was saved from euthanasia by a not-for-profit group in Ohio, and will be able to walk thanks to the Ohio University Innovation Centre.
Tumbles was taken in by Friends of the Shelter Dogs, whose stated mission is to prevent the euthanization of adoptable dogs at the county-operated dog shelter by rescue and/or adoption.
Tumbles was two weeks old when he was brought to the shelter. ABC News reports that Tumbles, weighing only one and a half pounds, had difficulty nursing and was the smallest of three puppies in his litter.
“We thought he wouldn’t make it,” Karen Pilcher told ABC News. Pilcher is the organization’s rescue coordinator, who became Tumbles’ foster mother and later adopted him officially.
“I could not resist and want to be this little one’s champion,” Pilcher wrote in a Facebook post shortly after adopting Tumbles.
The Ohio University Innovation Centre used a 3D printer to construct a small wheelchair to act in place of Tumbles’ front legs, enabling him to walk more easily. Before the wheelchair was introduced, Tumbles had already begun to adapt and was moving around by using his back legs and nose. A veterinarian had recommended an alternate solution while Tumbles was still young so that he could build strength in his back legs more naturally to support walking.
The results of Tumbles’ first fitting with his wheelchair on Nov. 10, 2015 were positive.
The lab director of the Innovation Center, Joe Jollick, told ABC News, “Everyone is real enthusiastic. Our main goal [was] to get him off the ground. The second thing is to get him used to it.”
Getting used to the wheelchair may be a longer process; according to a Facebook post by Pilcher after adopting Tumbles, “After trying to ride it he then tried to eat it.”
The wheelchair took 14 hours in the 3D printer, and Jollick says he is happy about the spreading word. “This is just letting people know it can be used for just about anything,” he said to ABC News. 3D printing is a process that creates three-dimensional solid objects from a digital file. The object is created by laying down layers of material until the object is complete; each layer is essentially a thinly-sliced cross-section of the final product.
Tumbles will receive physical therapy to develop his muscle strength and function in a way that will be closer to normal development while his wheelchair is still undergoing adjustments to make sure it is the right size and fit. Because he is so small and still a puppy, he will need several wheelchairs over the course of his life, which the Innovation Centre has committed to providing free of cost.
Tumbles is not the first dog to receive a wheelchair; in the past several years, this has become a viable way to avoid euthanasia for pets who are unable to walk on their own for a variety of reasons.