Bow Tie Boone mugs for his Facebook post sporting a tuxedo-shaped collar, his smile and eyes wide as the day he was first brought home. Behind his front paws, two nubs where his back legs should be sink into the cushion on which he stands.
Boone looks every bit an able ambassador for Joey’s PAW, a non-profit that procures wheelchairs and other prosthetics for special-needs dogs. Last Thursday, ambassador Boone was named a finalist for the American Humane Hero Dog Award in the therapy dog category. The overall winner will be announced during a special televised ceremony this fall on The Hallmark channel.
Joey’s PAW founder, Tanya Diable, recalls Boone’s long and challenging road. His rear legs had been intentionally severed at age five months. Diable responded to a post by Rescue Dogs Rock (RDR), a rescue in New York City, by offering a wheelchair for Boone. Aware of Diable’s history with special-needs dogs, RDR asked Diable to foster Boone.
“We ‘fostered’ for all of two hours,” Diable told Rescue Legacy. “But I knew he was mine. I promised him on the car ride home that I would never let anybody hurt him again.”
Bow Tie Boone
Following surgical revisions on his back legs, Boone became a bona fide therapy dog. Boone visits hospitals and rehab centers, schools and children’s homes where kids read to him. He also emcees fundraises for Joey’s PAW. The latest, a Pennsylvania brewery tour. A delightfully-illustrated book charts Boone’s miraculous path from abused rescue to therapy dog. All proceeds fund Joey’s PAW efforts to get prosthetics and wheelchairs to needy dogs.
Boone’s most relished role, however, is that of therapy brother to Anabelle, a rescued bait dog with three broken legs who’d been left by the side of the road in a remote location “not meant to be found,” Diable said.
“She still gets frightened by everything, but he’s really opened her up,” Diable said. “If [Boone’s] there, she knows it’s a safe place.”
Thanks to Boone’s and Diable’s unflagging devotion, Anabelle has made remarkable progress. Previously withdrawn and anti-social, Anabelle marked her first anniversary with her family by looking into her mother’s eyes and playing with her food bowl. She’s started barking in the morning and while playing with Boone.
“She’s learning her voice and has truly come out of her shell,” Diable said, “It’s amazing.”
Anabelle
After his adoption and surgeries, Boone had a transformation of his own. “He laid on my chest for three months,” Diable said, choking back tears, “The day we put him in the wheelchair — it was the first time he ever wagged his tail. He got in his wheels and took off.”
Diable’s giving journey began five years ago when she and her husband adopted Joey, the non-profit’s namesake, who’d endured unthinkable horrors.
“We didn’t even make it through the Holland Tunnel before I looked at my husband and said, ‘We have to do something to make this right.” That meant getting as many prosthetics and wheelchairs to special-needs dogs in shelters and rescues as possible.
Joey
“There are so many dogs out there that need wheelchairs and prosthetics,” Diable continued, “Many people can’t afford to have that expense in addition to adoption.”
To date, 938 dogs have received prosthetics through Joey’s PAW. Diable posts Boone’s, Anabelle’s and Joey’s progress regularly on social media. These chronicles drive awareness about special-needs dogs and fuel fundraising efforts. Each dog boasts an impressive legion of followers.
“They bond and connect with the dogs. There’s a lot of people who genuinely feel that dog’s pain,” Diable said. “And they want to act.”
Love. Healing. Nurture. Joey’s PAW offers special needs dogs much more than just a leg to stand on.
Coming soon: Complete video interview with Diana Diable of Joey’s PAW.