He has such a great smile on his face.
Having the freedom to go where you want is a feeling that can’t be bought.
But Turbo, a 3-month-old mini horse, never knew what that was like until the people at Road to Refuge Animal Sanctuary gave him a cool new set of wheels.
Turbo was born with two luxating patellae, a birth defect that made it hard for him to move his back two legs.
This made the cute miniature horse walk with his back legs bent, putting all of his weight on his front legs.
Turbo’s owners called North Haven, Connecticut’s Road to Refuge Animal Sanctuary (R2RAS) for help.
Megan Pereira started the non-profit group because she was tired of seeing so many farm animals put down at her job as an animal vet tech.
Her safe place gives them a place to spend the rest of their lives.
Megan told Walkin’ Pets, “I tend to like the ones that have special needs, are hurt, or need a lot of medical care.”
Megan had helped a goat named Peaches who used a wheelchair to get around, so she thought Turbo could also use some help and took him in.
When the New Hampshire company Walkin’ Pets Mobility heard about Turbo’s story, they decided to give Turbo a wheelchair for free.
Turbo didn’t even wait until he was fully strapped into his new wheelchair before he took off running.
“I almost started crying when I saw Turbo “walk” without help and drag his legs before getting into his cart. I don’t cry very often, but I almost did. Megan said, “He was running and bucking, and it was all very exciting.”
Seeing this little horse run around in his wheelchair makes your heart happy.
When he moves around in that wheelchair, he has a completely different attitude.
It has a spirit of happiness. Megan hopes that people will be inspired by Turbo’s story to help animals with special needs.
Megan said, “It’s definitely a road worth taking, because the people you meet along the way make a special place in your heart.”
Turbo needed more help than a wheelchair could give him.
The legs of Megan’s mini horse, which she calls her “unicorn,” also needed surgery.
“The surgery on my sweet little unicorn is over. He had surgery on his first leg yesterday, and today he had surgery on his second leg. He is doing very well after both surgeries. There is always a chance that something will go wrong after surgery. He still has a long way to go, but I’m cautiously optimistic! “, she wrote on the Facebook page for the Road to Refuge Animal Sanctuary.
The charity group hopes that people will give money to help pay for his surgery. Here is where you can give money to help pay for Turbos’s surgery and help the other animals at the Road to Refuge Animal Sanctuary.
So far, since 2020, 70 animals have been saved by the sanctuary, which is on 10 acres of land.
Visit roadtorefugeanimalsanctuary.com to learn more about Road to Refuge Animal Sanctuary.
In the video below, you can see Turbo take his first happy steps in his wheelchair.
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