Prosthetic Paw Gives Doomed Dog a Second Chance
A dog facing euthanization after the loss of a paw was saved by the kind hearted veterinary technician who refused to give up on him.
The young male dog was relinquished by its owners, who said they could not afford his veterinary expenses. He was left at the Merced Veterinary Clinic and was scheduled to be put down.
Veterinary technician Xenia Onofre said she could not let that happen. She fell for ‘Skip’ and took a special interest in his case. “He was young and he was a puppy. I felt like he deserved a chance to be a dog and be a puppy,” Onofre told KFSN.
The Merced Hanger Clinic, the same clinic that made the first ever prosthetic dolphin tail for Winter, a bottlenose dolphin, was contacted and said they were confident they could find a solution for Skip.
“Without that paw, it puts stress on the other joints of his body, wearing him out prematurely,” Spencer Greene told ABCNews. “We needed to do something so he could walk on that leg.”
Greene made a mold of Skip’s limb in order to develop a prosthetic that fit precisely. And it did. As soon it was on, Skip was a new dog.
“He just literally took off running when he had it on,” Greene said. Now, Skip is “able to run longer and play like other dogs,” according to the Hanger Clinic, who generously waived the bill.
“It’s a great little project. We did it free of charge as a way to give back. It’s just been very gratifying,” Greene said. “Things have really changed for him.”
















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35 comments
Such an awesome story. LOVE it.
Hoorah for the vet techs—you guys don’t get enuf credit!!!
Righteous!
Big thanks to Ms. Onofre and the kind people at the Merced Hanger Clinic! <3
How sweet god bless her for saving his life
We love our fur kids and we love those who help us keep them healthy and well
LOVE IT!!!!
What a great way to end the week. I love a happy dog story! Kudos and eight enthusiastic paws-up from the four-leggers in the Galvin house to the vet clinic for donating their time and talents to let this dog be a normal dog.
this should be frontline news the good stories always get the back burner, this is a real heartwarming story thank you for sharing.
What a wonderful story! Go Skip!
Sad case but what the clinic did is beautiful
Thankyou 4 showing kindness
Never, ever give up! You precious llittle boy. Now you have your forever home!
This warmed my heart thank you for renewing my faith in people, we only hear about the bad things going on in our world.
When my old Vet’s office “cleaned” house and got rid of the rescue friendly, customer service oriented, nice vet techs who truly cared about the animals…business has gone way way downhill.
Awesome.
Give Man’s Best Friend another chance in Life……They deserved it.
God bless you and thank you for your kindness to our beloved friend.
Beautiful story made my day:)
Wonderful!!:)
AWESOME!!!!!!!
That is awesome, so happy to hear that some ppl never give up and do amazing things for our wonderful creatures…!!! God Bless You..!!!
Nowthisreally is Pawsome!! Bless that vets heart <3
How amazing!!
Had to share !!
so wonderful
Too cool. Good for him!
love love love this !!!!!!!!!!!!
A lucky dog!
<3
This is a wonderful story. I do feel for the original owners tho. These solutions are so expensive. This puppy had the right vet tech!
This is an amazing story!! It’s wonderful what can be done theses days! My chihuahua has a degenerative disease that makes the joints in her legs weak and makes it difficult for her to walk. They normally do a surgery that fuses the ankle joints so they can walk…but she is only 3 lbs and her bones are too small for the pins! I found an amazing lady in Toronto, Canada who makes prosestecitcs and braces for animals! It’s called Pawsability.ca. It’s wonderful. My dog now wears leg braces on her front legs. And she runs and jumps just like the old days. I’m so happy because I don’t know what would have happened without them!!! Thank you to people like this and in this story who go the extra mile for the animals we love!!
Awww congtats lil buddy! He’s smiling lol so sweet!
I believe a 3 legged dog can survive -y put him down -anyway now alls well n he’s alive ths lucky pup! God blesss evryone who helped
Wonderful story