The pup formerly known as Forrest Stump is on a quest to find his perfect pawtnership.
Formerly known as Forrest Stump, this dog arrived in Wisconsin from Texas at just 4 months old, missing a paw. Rescued by Texas Rescue Riders—a group dedicated to saving pets in rural Texas and facilitating their transfer to foster homes and adopters in the Midwest—Forrest, along with his mom and siblings, was discovered living beneath a camper.
Jessica Lietzke, foster and adoption coordinator at Texas Rescue Riders, shared with us that they frequently handle special needs pets, taking on challenging cases despite potential high costs.
In a unique and meaningful project, Sara Gauthier, an engineering teacher in Racine, Wis., tasked her students with designing a prosthetic paw for Forrest, who was under Lietzke’s care.
Gauthier emphasized that this project holds more significance for the students than a typical assignment. “It’s empowering for the kids to try way harder than if it was just something that I came up with in the classroom and said, ‘Here make this, I’m the only one that’s going to see it.’ Now, it’s really putting the pressure on them in understanding that this is really going to be used and what I’m doing really counts, really matters,” Gauthier said.
The students’ prosthetic design process, starting with measurements and 3-D laser photos of one of Forrest’s paws. Despite the challenge of Forrest’s growth since the initial measurements, one design appeared promising, with Gauthier noting that “he actually got up and walked on it for a minute or so.”
In an exciting turn of events, Forrest has been adopted and now goes by the name Harvey.His new family is anticipating the completion of his final prosthetic, aiming for it to be ready by March.