A man has built a makeshift wheelchair out of household items after his girlfriend’s dog lost the use of its back legs — and it cost just $40.
When Brianna Ibarra’s dog, Benny, started dragging his hind legs, she was shocked to discover the cost of treatment and surgery for her puppy.
“[Benny] woke up dragging his hind legs and my girlfriend’s mom ended up taking him to the animal hospital. They informed her that the surgery would cost beyond $8000.”
Even without surgery, a custom doggy wheelchair for Benny would have cost at least $1000 — money that simply wasn’t available.
So Brianna’s boyfriend James Panigua, 22, stepped in to to show off his handyman skills and build Benny a makeshift wheelchair out of PVC pipes.
“I started off by Google searching ‘dog do-it-yourself wheelchair’,” explained James, “I said, ‘You know, that loosk simple enough. Let’s try it out.'”
“I had a ton of trouble finding wheels and ended up just buying a $20 scooter from Wal-Mart and salvaging the wheels. $5 on Velcro straps, less than $5 on nuts and bolts and close to $8 on PVC pipes, joints and PVC cement.”
After James was finished crafting, Benny was ready to test out his makeshift wheelchair.
And judging by that wagging tail, this puppy approves.
Benny’s mobile once again and James is planning some small improvements to his wheely genius design.