Animals with a disability are often met sympathetically, but one man from Tennessee wants to vary our attitudes. Joshua Ferguson, a war veteran who lost his leg in an accident in Iraq, found an adoption appeal for an adorable three-legged dog and instantly fell crazy with the pooch. He knew that they might have tons in common, so he jumped straight into the adoption process and now he’s sharing his story with us all. Scooter the three-legged pup had a difficult start to life. He was found by a Tennessee fisherman near a creek, where he was badly injured. The fisherman saw that poor Scooter needed emergency medical attention and took him straight to the vets, where unfortunately, the choice was made that they might need to amputate one between his legs.
Happily, Scooter went on to form a full recovery and shortly adapted to pulling himself along without the need for a fourth leg. He is now living a blissful life with owner Joshua, who says that he and Scooter understand one another all so well. Speaking about the sympathy that amputees are usually met with, Joshua said: “Everybody’s happy to ascertain him then they realize he’s got three legs then they start to pity him.” chatting with these people, he added: “You were happy, you were overjoyed to ascertain him. (So) Don’t pity him.”
As a veteran and an amputee, Joshua is probably going to possess experienced these sorts of reactions for himself, so it’s no wonder that people’s pity toward Scooter hits home for him. The brave veteran was serving in Iraq during the Gulf War when he lost his leg in an attack. Apparently, that’s why when he spotted Scooter’s story on the Humane Society of Dickson County Facebook page, he knew that he had to satisfy this strong fellow.
Joshua has some words of encouragement for anybody who could also be struggling. He advises people to always look on the brilliant side and believe others who may have it worse off than them. “There’s a bright side in anything,” he says. “You can find something- and albeit you can’t, somebody’s had it worse so just stop complaining.” These are wise words to measure by! we expect that Scooter and Joshua share an equivalent positive attitude – despite having three legs, Scooter is as happy as the other dog and doesn’t let his disability get in the way of him living life to the fullest.
Since the adoption process, the pair now spend their days exploring local parks, doing yoga, and playing together. When times get tough and painful memories come up, Joshua says that Scooter reminds him to seem toward the longer term rather than back to the past. “It makes it easier on behalf of me to recollect that it’s still a gorgeous day,” Joshua concludes.
A video of Scooter’s life with Joshua was shared onto YouTube by Inside Edition, where it racked up 155,000 views and three .1k Like it, it makes Scooter a bit like an Internet celebrity. The pair are such an idea and that we hope to find out more of them in the future! Watch the adorable video below. Please SHARE this with your friends and family.