Woman Adopts 7 Dogs With Disabilities and Trains Them to Be Therapy Dogs
Debbie Pearl is the leader of a pack of dogs that have gone from seemingly hopeless to helpful.
All of Debbie Pearl's dogs have disabilities and use wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs. They're known as "The Unstoppable Dogs."
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According to CBS News, it all started when the Huntington Beach, California, woman adopted a disabled dog named Fast Eddie about nine years ago. Eddie was abandoned with a spinal injury, which left him unable to properly use his back legs.
With the help of a wheeled device, Pearl was able to get Eddie back on his feet.
“He was so full of life. He never let anything slow him down. I mean, he truly was, what you would say, the word ‘unstoppable’ encompasses,” she noted.
Pearl then stated, “After we rescued Eddie, I was contacted about another dog that was in Mexico, because somebody who knew me saw this dog and thought I might be interested.”
“And of course, when I saw him it was love at first sight,” she added.
Pearl explained, “From there, they just started coming. People just started reaching out. The word got out that I was a really great home, I love disabled dogs and one after the other started to come.”
Her pack of seven now includes Zeek, Pop, Speedy, Eddie, Stevie, Elliot, and Sydney. Each dog is a survivor of abuse.
Two of these special canines use prosthetics to help them stand, but this hasn’t slowed them down.
Pearl’s pack of rescue dogs has been trained to help others. They now visit hospitals and schools once a week to offer comfort and teach the value of perseverance.
“I look for dogs that have been through traumatic events, but that have this amazing gift of forgiveness,” Pearl said.
“And that’s a powerful thing for a lot of people, because they can see the courage, the resilience that these dogs have. And all of mine have been through the worst – and they’ve come out shining.”
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