Police detective who lost a leg adopts a dog with prosthetics: 'She’s the one taking care of me'

A police detective from California has shared the heartwarming story of his adoption of a rescue dog with prosthetic legs.

Chappie Hunter, who lives in Alpine and works in the San Diego Police Department, told Fox News that he could relate to the 9-year old Shih Tzu. The pet’s owner also lost a leg.

Mr Hunter explained he felt kinship with the dog, as Chloe has “been through some trauma, just like me. She has her prosthetics, just like I have mine”.

He lost his leg after a car crash eight years ago. Following a year of rehabilitation, he rejoined the force following his prosthetic leg-fitting.

“It’s nice to know that I might know a little bit about how she’s feeling. But in actuality, she’s actually the one taking care of me,” Mr Hunter continued to the news outlet.

The adoption came after he fostered Chloe for three months, during which they bonded.

Chloe was rescued in March by officers from the San Diego Humane Society, alongside another dog, Roxy, a 13-year-old chihuahua. They were both discovered with bound legs that cut off blood supply, requiring them both to have a partial amputation.

“Fitting a dog with prosthetics is quite an involved process and this was a first for San Diego Humane Society,” said Susan Garity, an animal doctor involved in the landmark procedure, in a statement.

She was a part of a team led by Dr Seth Ganz at Agile Veterinary Surgery, and went into detail about the challenges they faced.

“It included sedation to create a mold of the feet, getting the prosthetics to fit perfectly and monitoring for pressure sores. It takes time for the dogs to learn to use them.”

Some animal shelters have reported that during the pandemic dog adoption has been incredibly popular, due to the amount of time spent at home and social distancing from loved ones, according to reporting by The Washington Post.

On top of this, Time magazine made rescue dogs as 2020’s Pet of The Year.

President and CEO of the ASPCA Matt Bershadker said to the magazine, “We’ve seen an incredibly compassionate response from people willing to open their homes to foster and adopt vulnerable shelter animals during this period of uncertainty and applaud them for stepping up so heroically for animals in need.”