'They deserve a chance' - With proper care and love, special-needs pets can outperform expectations

Apple the white poodle-Dachshund mix went bumbling out into the yard as soon as Cherie Harris set her down.

"She's just a little drunk on her feet," she said. "But I've gotta watch her or she'll run away."

Harris said nobody's quite sure what's wrong with Apple, whose legs don't always work, but Harris suspects something like cerebral palsy from a difficult birthing.

"Two months ago, she couldn't lift her head," she said. "She was just as limp as a noodle."

But whatever it is, it only makes Harris like her more.

Flower, an 8-week-old Chihuahua that was paralyzed at birth, uses her front legs to walk around on Wednesday.Laura Simon

"I fell in love with her when I saw her," she said.

Rochelle Steffen of the not-for-profit rescue Mac's Mission said that's typically how it goes with special-needs pets.

"I think people bond more with the special ones," she said. "And we specialize in special."

Even the ones who can't get around so well or have to wear a diaper deserve a chance, she said. And most of the time, she's amazed at how they outperform expectations.

"It's crazy how resilient they are," she said. "Look at the joy they give to their people. They deserve a chance."

For instance, take the 8-week-old Chihuahua puppy she had swaddled under one arm.

"This is Flower," she said.

Flower's back legs were paralyzed at birth, but she gets around on her front legs in half a handstand, like a jumping bean.

"Look at her," she said. "She's perfect."

Steffen said she's been in talks with the Cape Girardeau Career and Technology Center, which might be able to make Flower a wheelchair by using a 3-D printer.

"We're in real trouble if she gets wheels," Steffen said. "She doesn't even know she's special needs."

She said when dealing with special-needs pets, there's always an "Oh my God" moment.

"When you think, 'Is anyone going to adopt this puppy? Are we going to have her forever?'" she said. "But then the perfect family comes along."

That's what happened to Huli the Shiba Inu puppy about a year ago. She was born with a heart murmur that didn't look good.

Ted and Judy Clark hadn't had a dog in more than 20 years since they had to have their last dog put down.

"When we got her, you could hear it," Ted said of Huli's heart condition. "They thought it was going to be a hospice situation."

But now, she's healthy.

"And she's just full of energy," Ted said. "I don't know what we'd do without her now."

Steffen said Mac's Mission is saving up to build a facility in Jackson to better serve pups like Flower, Apple and Huli.

While these animals often are a bit more work, she said, they're the good ones.

"I think they're just better, you know?" she said. "They're more fun."

"And when you wake up in the morning and here's Apple, with her janky legs and trying to walk," said Harris. "You just can't have a bad day when you see that."

And while Flower isn't quite ready to be adopted yet, she will be soon. Visit facebook.com/macthepitbull for more information.

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627