Tiny Rescue Dog with Partially Paralyzed Back Legs Wows Rescuer Working to Find Her a Home
Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary
Jodi Helmer fell for Mrs. Maisel the second she saw her.
Helmer first laid eyes on the Chihuahua in a video filmed at a North Carolina shelter. In the clip, Mrs. Maisel — as the pup would come to be known — runs and walks through the shelter with her tail wagging despite having partially paralyzed back legs. The small dog had developed incredible upper body strength to get around.
"I got an email from Animal Control looking for someone to take her [Mrs. Maisel] in, and they sent this video of her walking, and I kept re-watching it and thinking about her," Helmer told PEOPLE.
"I couldn't stop thinking about her, so I emailed and asked if anyone had stepped up, and they said 'No.'," she added.
Helmer and her husband run Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary, a non-profit animal rescue in Albermarle, North Carolina, about an hour outside Charlotte.
"We moved here with the intention of getting some chickens, and once you have a little bit of space and people know you foster animals, whether it's a parakeet or a pig, they call you when animals need rescuing," the sanctuary founder shared.
Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary
Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary currently houses 54 animals —including a donkey, goats, alpacas, cats, dogs, ducks, chickens, a turkey, and several special needs dogs.
Helmer picked Mrs. Maisel up from the shelter to add her to the sanctuary's growing rescue family. Shelter workers told Helmer the dog was brought in as a stray, so they didn't know the cause of her paralysis but mentioned the dog had been "acting out."
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"We went to the vet and discovered she wasn't in pain. She's been living with the injury for quite a while and has adapted to it," Helmer said, adding that the injury was left untreated, and now it is too late for Mrs. Maisel to benefit from surgery.
Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary
Mrs. Maisel's new owner believes the dog may have had a home where she was potentially mistreated before becoming a stray, which might have caused the pet to act out at first.
"Now that she's home with us, she's the snuggliest dog ever. She's slower to warm up to new people, but eventually, she wants to be close to you and cuddle. I walk around with her in a dog sling on my chest, and she loves it," Helmer said of Mrs. Maisel's life now.
Helmer has been sharing Mrs. Maisel's journey on Naughty Donkey Farm Sanctuary's Instagram, where the dog's story caught the eye of a non-profit that assists pets with mobility issues. The organization is donating a custom wheelchair designed for the seven-pound pup.
"Even though she gets around on two feet, she doesn't get around as well as she could with a wheelchair. We could never take her for a full-blown walk because it would be too much pressure on the front of her body. The wheelchair will give her the support she needs to ease her gait," Mrs. Maisel's new mom said of the dog's future.
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The chair is expected to be ready in late January, and Helmer has already started lining up physical therapy for Mrs. Maisel. Helmer hopes to increase Mrs. Maisel's mobility and find the dog a forever home.
"To me, it's bittersweet. I hate that she didn't get treatment when she was first hurt because surgery following an injury can be highly successful. We'll never know what happened to her, but if she had been treated immediately, her outcome may have been different," Helmer said.
But she still envisions a happy ending for Mrs. Maisel.
"I love her spirit. I love that she's feisty and not afraid to stand up for herself, and she's got this difference and hasn't let it stop her. She's really determined."
To help Mrs. Maisel as she starts this next chapter, visit CUDDLY, a fundraising platform for rescues, which is raising money for the pup.
