Good Golly Miss Molly

I received this from a friend today, who knows how much I love animals. I wanted to share this heart warming story. What a wonderful way to give people hope and inspiration.

Meet Molly.

She's a grey speckled pony who was abandoned by her owners when Hurricane Katrina hit southern Louisiana.
She spent weeks on her own before finally being rescued and taken
to a farm where abandoned animals were stockpiled.

While there, she was attacked by a pit bull terrier and almost died. Her gnawed right front leg became infected, and her vet went to LSU for help, but LSU was overwhelmed, and this pony was a welfare case.
You know how that goes.

But after surgeon Rustin Moore met Molly, he changed his mind. He saw how the pony was careful to lie down on different sides so she didn't seem to get sores, and how she allowed people to handle her. She protected her injured leg. She constantly shifted her weight and didn't overload her good leg. She was a smart pony with a serious survival ethic.

Moore agreed to remove her leg below the knee, and a temporary artificial limb was built. Molly walked out of the clinic and her story really begins there.

'This was the right horse and the right owner,' Moore insists. Molly happened to be a one-in-a-million patient. She's tough as nails,
but sweet, and she was willing to cope with pain.

She made it obvious she understood that she was
in trouble. The other important factor, according
to Moore , is having a truly committed and compliant
owner who is dedicated to providing the daily care
required over the lifetime of the horse.

Molly's story turns into a parable for life in
post-Katrina Louisiana . The little pony gained weight,
and her mane finally felt a comb A human prosthesis
designer built her a leg.

The prosthetic has given Molly a whole new life,
Allison Barca DVM, Molly's regular vet, reports.


And she asks for it. She will put her little limb out,
and come to you and let you know that she wants
you to put it on. Sometimes she wants you to take
it off, too. And sometimes, Molly gets away from
Barca. 'It can be pretty bad when you can't catch a
three-legged horse,' she laughs.

Most important of all, Molly has a job now. Kay,
the rescue farm owner, started taking Molly to
shelters, hospitals, nursing homes, and rehabilitation
centers. Anywhere she thought that people needed
hope. Wherever Molly went, she showed people her
pluck. She inspired people, and she had a good time
doing it.

'It's obvious to me that Molly had a bigger role to
play in life,? Moore said. 'She survived the hurricane,
she survived a horrible injury, and now she is giving
hope to others.'

Barca concluded, 'She's not back to normal, but she's
going to be better. To me, she could be a symbol
for New Orleans itself.'



This is Molly's most recent prosthesis The bottom
photo shows the ground surface that she stands on,
which has a smiley face embossed in it. Wherever
Molly goes, she leaves a smiley hoof print behind.