Pets are one of the great joys in life. They offer companionship, love, and a sense of purpose. And for people with disabilities, animals can provide much more than that. Disabled animals are inspiring and help motivate disabled children to feel empowered and capable.
However, this goes much further than service dogs helping the blind or an ESA (emotional support animal). Animals that are considered disabled help inspire others.
DOUBLE AGENT PETS
Often enough, when a child has a disability, the family pet will spring into action. Many animals are intuitive and seem to know about problems before they arise. With their keen senses, animals will make these connections all on their own and do some amazing things.
Even untrained animals can often offer more than just unconditional love. Some will help support those who struggle with mobility issues, and others will notice changes in vitals automatically. These superhero pets are truly remarkable when it comes to their family.
ANIMALS WITH DISABILITIES
Just like humans, our animal BFFs will sometimes get the genetic soup that turns into some type of defect. A common example is White Tigers (no, these are not pets!), but these big cats are commonly sought after because of the unique color that is actually problematic for them.
Another example is that Dalmations are commonly deaf at birth or a few weeks after. There are quite a few reasons for this. However, more than 20% are deaf.
But don’t let this deter you. Animals have coped with disabilities for as long as people have, and they’ve been nothing but an inspiration.
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INSPIRING STORIES
Faith
Most of the internet is at least somewhat familiar with Faith and her inspirational story. But just in case you don’t know, Faith was born with two rear legs and a single deformed front leg. Her dog mom neglected her. However, a young boy saw this and stepped in. He brought Faith home to his family and changed her life. Faith fought and beat the odds. All thanks to her family, who eventually trained her to get around on her rear legs.
Since then, Faith has become an internet sensation because of her ability to survive and thrive against all odds. She has even been on many T.V. shows like Oprah, Montel Williams, Animal Attractions Television, and Ripley’s Believe it or Not.
Faith has her own website, and her owner even wrote two books about her struggle, With a Little Faith and Faith Alone, to inspire others about what a little kindness and Faith can do.
Chase
You might not know Chase, but we think she’s one for the books. After an accident when she was a kitten, Chase lost one of her legs, and the incident also damaged the majority of the skin on her face. Chase helped as a therapy cat for persons with disabilities with Paws For Friendship.
Her life mission was encouraging children with disabilities, and she “hopes to help other humans feel just as great about themselves and realize that not everyone looks perfect and that is OK.”
Rowan
Dealing with blindness is difficult no matter what your species. However, just as teenager Ben Underwood utilized echolocation to navigate his world, so has Rowan, a German Spitz from the U.K. Rowan was born without eyes making him blind. However, that didn’t stop him. He still gets around using echolocations from his barks.
Daisy
Daisy and Helen Keller have a lot in common because she was born deaf and blind. Daisy has had to learn to be a dog with only her senses of smell and touch to guide her. The first two people who had Daisy ended up giving her up, leading to a distrust in humans. When the Faresh family stepped in, they knew they had a lot of work ahead but were up for the challenge.
With some special modifications to their house, like adding foam to the corners of the walls, eventually, Daisy warmed up and learned to trust them enough to explore her new surroundings, even traveling up the stairs.
Helping Daisy taught the family about the unique needs of many people who struggle with their disabilities. The Faresh family started using the pup as a therapy dog to inspire others and has self-published a children’s book about their special pet called What About Daisy.
HOW YOU CAN HELP
The best way that you can help disabled animals is to be involved like Shaine Kilyun, who is building wheelchairs for disabled animals all over the world. However, it doesn’t have to be something that big.
1. Donate to a charity that supports disabled animals
2. Foster a disabled animal
3. Spread awareness about the difficulties disabled animals face
4. Volunteer at an animal shelter or rescue organization that helps disabled animals
You can also check out Handicap Pet’s Foundation for more information about these fantastic animals.
CONCLUSION
Handicapped pets are animals that have disabilities. They can be disabled from birth or due to an accident, disease, or other incidents. However, these disabilities can make these animals an inspiration to those who struggle with their own disabilities.
Furthermore, these handicapped pets need special care to help them navigate their environment and live a happy life despite their disability. Fortunately, there are many amazing organizations like Handicap Pet’s Foundation. They do all the work necessary to raise awareness about these critical issues and educate others on ways they can get involved in helping out!
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