Buddy gets a leg up
BUDDY’S GONE bionic!
The German shepherd who lost a foot after it got ensnared in a wire has a brand-new prosthetic leg — and now thinks he’s some kind of superdog.
“He really does think he’s the Bionic Dog,” joked Adam Brickner, who has been caring for Buddy as staffers at the Animal Care Centers of NYC find a forever home for him. “He hasn’t had the use of four legs for a while, so now he’s jumping around and bouncing all over the place.”
Buddy received the lightweight padded appendage, which comes with a harness that wraps around his body, on Tuesday at the Water4Dogs veterinarian clinic on Worth St. in Tribeca.
Without hesitation, Buddy was ready to take on Manhattan’s hardscrabble streets, Brickner, 54, said.
“We walked home from the place ... it was about a mile,” Brickner said. “Now he’s walking long distances all the time.”
Animal Care Centers of NYC workers found Buddy tied to the front door of its Brooklyn shelter on Linden Blvd. in East New York on Jan. 13.
The friendly animal was bleeding from his left hind leg. A veterinarian soon learned that a wire had gotten wrapped around the 1-year-old puppy’s leg, and cut off the circulation.
When the limb atrophied, Buddy gnawed off part of his own leg, staffers said.
Buddy was immediately rushed into surgery, where vets repaired his leg as best they could.
Brickner has been caring for Buddy for the last six weeks. The prosthetic leg — which cost about $2,500 — came from an anonymous donor.
Buddy is close to getting his forever home, too — Animal Care Centers of NYC has narrowed their list down to two candidates, Brickner said.