Over 70 people have called or e-mailed a White Plains, N.Y., woman to offer to help pay for a cart for her 15-year-old German Shepard-Beagle mix, who has lost the use of his hind legs.
After a story was published in the upstate New York newspaper the Journal News on Monday, offers started pouring in to help Chopper, whose legs were damaged by arthritis and nerve damage.
The first offer of help came from a Briarcliff Manor police officer, Nick Tartaglione, whose mother runs an animal rescue group. Tartaglione offered to put the entire $395 cost of a cart on his credit card.
Eddies Wheels for Carts, a Massachusetts-based, family-owned business that makes two-wheeled carts that strap onto the backs of disabled animals, will fit Chopper for a cart, and is accepting donations on Choppers behalf.
The dogs owner, Patty Sanderson, a home health aide, has arthritis like her dog, and has been holding him up by his tail to walk him. Sanderson, 70, says she will use whatever contributions come in beyond the cost of the cart to hire dog walkers and to buy medication for Chopper.
Posted: April 6, 2006, 5 a.m. EST