Pumpkin, a small, eight-month old, 18-pound terrier mix, is friendly, happy, playful and well-trained.
She gets along wonderfully with cats, dogs, children and people and understands basic commands.
There is only one thing different about Pumpkin to most other well-cared-for dogs: she has three legs.
Discovered on the road by her current foster parent, Christine Volinsky, she was just two weeks old, starving and covered in fleas.
Part of her back leg and tail had been severed and she was in the middle of a busy road following a dog who she believed to be her mother.
Close to death, Ms Volinsky painstakingly picked more than 100 fleas off her coat on the night she was found but at just one pound, the puppy had to be taken to the veterinary hospital for urgent care.
After three weeks at the hospital she was able to overcome the infection that had taken hold of her wounds and return to her foster home.
There were concerns initially about how she would cope with three legs, but she seems to have overcome them as she is now completely mobile.
‘At first she was very long and low to the ground and tended to rest on her leg a lot when walking, which didn’t do it any good,’ Ms Volinsky explains. ‘However, now she has a complete rhythm with it.’
‘She is so smart, and such a happy pup, not fearful, and very well-adjusted, which is amazing considering her tough start in life,’ Ms Volinsky explained.
‘Her survival was a miracle, and I know she will be a little angel to someone special too. She has a big spirit and never lets anything slow her down,’ she added.
Pumpkin needs a foster home or a permanent home, as she cannot stay with Ms Volinsky. In an unfortunate sequence of events, Ms Volinsky signed a lease for a new property in the fall when a home had been arranged for Pumpkin. In the end, the adoption deal fell through but sadly Pumpkin cannot move with Ms Volinsky as her home is on the second floor and she cannot climb stairs.
The Humane Society is over its capacity for dogs and Ms Volinsky is adamant not to return her to a shelter life, but instead wants to find Pumpkin a family that will love her as well as she will love them.
The key aspect to Pumpkin’s survival is that she proves a constant inspiration, points out Ms Volinsky.
‘We can learn a lot from dogs like Pumpkin,’ she said. ‘She is so happy despite her traumas and she just gets on with it. She has adapted without any problem.’
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