3 min read Dog Who Lost All Four Paws Learns To Walk Again

Two years after losing all four of his paws, a very determined Rottweiler named Brutus is back to doing something that once seemed an impossibility: walking on his own. Brutus was only a puppy when his neglectful former owners, dog breeders, left him outside in freezing weather long enough to become frostbitten on each of his limbs. Instead of taking him to a vet for help, the breeders decided to amputate all the paws themselves, meaning Brutus was no longer able to get around on his own.

Brutus was ultimately saved from that troubling situation and rehomed with foster mom Laura Aquilina in Loveland, Colorado - but problems stemming from the botched surgery continued to plague him. "He cannot run and play like all puppies want to do, he can barely walk," rescuers wrote on a GoFundMe page to raise funds for the dog's care. "He has to be carried over any hard surfaces or up and down stairs."

Within months, hundreds of supporters who were touched by Brutus's sad story had donated more than $12,000 toward corrective surgery and new artificial limbs made specially for him. Fortunately, Martin Kauffman, founder of OrthoPets, a Denver-based company that specializes in prosthetics for animals, was among those who refused to see Brutus as a hopeless case. "Brutus is an amazing case of a beautiful dog who was dealt a short hand," Kauffman told news station KTLA.

OrthoPets was able to create replacement paws that would allow Brutus to finally get back up on all fours - making him only the second quadruple amputee dog to be helped by these devices ever. And with that, Brutus is able to walk once again.