Faith: The Two-Legged Dog that Inspired Millions

Faith, a dog with only two legs, has definitely made history with her amazing defeat and kind soul.

In January of 2003, 17 year old Reuben rescued a three week old puppy from underneath it's mother just in the nick of time before the mother could smother her. The mother dog knew something was wrong with her puppy and the chances of her surviving was almost impossible. She was right. There was something wrong with her, but incredibly the little dog did survive because of the love and care she received from Reuben, his sisters and his mother Jude Stringfellow. The dog was given the name Faith.

Faith was born with two fully developed hind legs and only one front leg which was deformed. Veterinarians advised that the puppy be euthanized, but the family refused. At seven months old, the doctors removed the front leg that was gradually wasting away.

Reuben and his family were determined to help the little dog survive, and to survive meant getting her chin and chest up off the ground to prevent skin breakdown. Using peanut butter as an incentive to lift her chin and body, and help from the family's corgi who would nip at the dog's heels to encourage movement, they were able to teach the two-legged dog how to hop on her hind legs. But, it was Faith who taught herself to walk.

Inspired by her son who went on to serve his country in Iraq, Ms Stringfellow knew Faith would be perfect as an inspiration to soldiers coming home from the war, especially those who lost limbs. According to her  "She [Faith] shows what can be achieved against the odds." The two often traveled to hospitals, airports and other places to meet the injured or returning soldiers. Faith did wonders in helping so many soldiers, so much that she was made an honorary E5 Sergeant in the U.S. Army in 2006 - four thousand soldiers attended the ceremony.

In addition to helping the soldiers, Faith participated in a kids' reading program. She gained celebrity status for helping so many and appeared regularly on talk shows, including Oprah who said the two-legged dog was one of her favorite guests.

As Faith reached her senior years, walking was becoming painful despite a healthy diet, joint supplements and pain medicine. When the pain seemed to be too much for her, Ms Stringfellow decided to have her put down peacefully in 2014, saying "She is with Jesus now, and is forever ever evermore running on four perfectly formed and beautiful legs." Faith was almost twelve years old.

 

Oprah's interview with Faith

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Beautiful Joe: Inspires Kindness Towards Animals

An abused and plain-looking mongrel became famous in history as Beautiful Joe after his story was told to help bring awareness of animal cruelty around the world.

The story of Beautiful Joe, written by Margaret Marshall Saunders, won first place in a writing contest run by the Humane Society. Saunders learned about the dog from her sister-in-law Louise Moore (named Laura Morris in the story) whose family rescued the dog. The story, written from the dog's point of view (to really grab the reader's attention), was published in 1893 and received worldwide attention. By the late 1930s, over seven million copies sold.

Joe was born in Meaford, Ontario and belonged to a man who treated his animals inhumanely. He neglected them, starved them and beaten them. Joe's brothers and sisters died horrible deaths, and his mother died of a broken heart.

"One rainy day, when we were eight weeks old, Jenkins [the bad man] followed by two or three of his ragged, dirty children, came into the stable and looked at us. Then he began to swear because we were so ugly, and said if we had been good-looking, he might have sold some of us. Mother watched him anxiously, and fearing some danger to her puppies, ran and jumped in the middle of us, and looked pleadingly up at him."

"He took one pup after another, and right there, before his children and my poor distracted mother, put an end to their lives. It was very terrible. My mother ran up and down the stable screaming with pain, and I lay weak and trembling, and expecting every instant that my turn would come next. I don't know why he spared me."

"Mother picked up all the puppies and brought them to our bed in the straw and licked them, and tried to bring them back to life, but it was of no use."

Joe's mother was never the same after that and died shortly afterwards at the age of four.

"One day she licked me gently, wagged her tail, and died."

Joe's heart was broken, and when the man kicked him he could take no more. He bit the man, who became furious. With a hatchet, he cut off the dog's ears and tail.

"...the pain all through my body was dreadful. My head seemed to be on fire, and there were sharp, darting pains up and down my backbone."

The Moore family rescued the dog and named him Beautiful Joe, not for his looks but for his character.

"...thanks to good nursing, good food, and kind words, I was almost well."

The dog's story continues with the love he found, the friends he made and the lessons he learned about life.

About her book, Saunders commented "I have had the honour of leading the old Ontario dog around the world on a chain of translations and rejoice in the report that he has become quite a propagandist for humanitarianism."

In 1994, the Beautiful Joe Heritage Society was formed to honor the life of Beautiful Joe and the achievements of Margaret Marshall Saunders. The Beautiful Joe Park was established in Meaford, where the famous dog was laid to rest, and is maintained by the Society.

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Laddie: Collected Money to Help Orphans

Laddie became famous in history for collecting money at the Wimbledon Station to help railway orphans.

A young passenger putting money in Laddie's collection tin

From the late 1800s until the mid 1900s, collection dogs were a popular sight in British railway stations, pubs and other public places. They collected money for charities in tins attached to their backs or around their necks. To encourage more giving, the dogs would sometimes bark, shake hands and perform tricks. Some of the dogs were stuffed and placed in glass cases after their deaths to continue collecting money.

One notable dog was Laddie, an Airedale terrier born in September 1948. In 1949, he started to collect money at the Wimbledon Station on behalf of the Woking Railway Orphanage. In 1956, Laddie retired after seven years of service. During that time, he raised over £5,000 - that is more than £100,000 in today's money. He spent the rest of his days at the orphanage until he passed away in 1960. Laddie was one of the dogs who was stuffed and placed in a glass showcase with a collecting box after his death. He continued to collect donations until 1990 when he retired once more and was sent to the National Railway Museum at York.

Dog Helps the War Effort

Historical photo of an American dog helping the war effort by collecting scrap metal on the home front during WWII.

When the US joined the Second World War it was in need of crucial raw materials such as metal to build tanks and rubber to make tires. To help the need, American citizens were called upon to help participate, and scrap drives were organized across the country. The drives were very successful, and millions of tons of material was collected.

Unfortunately, a lot of the material proved to be useless on actual war production. However, the scrap drives did help boost citizen morale, making adults and children (and the above dog) feel like a crucial part of the war effort.

Pep: Therapy Dog Falsely Accused of Murder

Pep spent most of his life at the Eastern State Penitentiary. He became famous in history as an accused cat killer but in reality was sent to the prison to boost morale among the inmates.

Pep was a gift to Gifford Pinchot, the Governor of Pennsylvania, during his first term in 1923. He was a much-loved pet but had a bad habit of chewing on the cushions of the front porch sofa. The Governor felt it was best the dog lived somewhere else and decided to send him to the Eastern State Penitentiary in Maine. He heard about dogs being used as therapy to help rehabilitate inmates and, being good friends with the warden, felt Pep would be an excellent candidate. Pep entered the prison in August 1924.

Jokingly, the guards paw printed Pep and even took a mugshot of him with an inmate number, which is skipped in prison intake logs and inmate records. Word got around and his story was published in newspapers saying the Governor used his executive powers to sentence his dog to life in prison without parole for killing his wife's cat. According to Dick Fulmer, who worked at Eastern State in the '60s and has spent years researching the facility's history, stories of the false accusation were written all because of politics. In 1926, Cornelia Bryce-Pinchot, the Governor's wife, issued a statement to the New York Times clearing Pep's name.

Pep lived at Eastern State Penitentiary until he was transferred to Graterford Prison in 1929 where he died of natural causes and was buried on the prison grounds. Pep was never locked in a cell. He wandered around the prison halls freely and became a favorite among the inmates and guards.

Eastern State Penitentiary, which once housed Al Capone, closed in 1971 and is now a museum where the story of Pep is told today - to add a little humor in a place with a long, dark history.

Buddy: The First Seeing Eye Dog in America

Buddy became famous in history for impressing Americans with her ability to lead the blind, bringing about the first guide dog school in the US.

Morris and Buddy

Frank Morris was born in Nashville, Tennessee in 1908. At the age of six he lost his right eye after hitting a tree branch while horseback riding, and at the age of 16 he lost his left eye during a boxing match. Morris was very frustrated with having to depend on others to help him get around.

In November 1927, Morris's father read him an article by Dorothy Eustis, an American philanthropist living in Switzerland who operated a school that supplied dogs to the police and Red Cross. The article described schools in Germany that trained guide dogs for WWI veterans who had gone blind from mustard gas.

Morris was inspired to write Eustis for help. "Is what you say really true? If so, I want one of those dogs! And I am not alone. Thousands of blind like me abhor being dependent on others. Help me and I will help them. Train me and I will bring back my dog and show people here how a blind man can be absolutely on his own. We can then set up an instruction center in this country to give all those here who want it a chance at a new life." Eustis agreed to help.

Morris went to Switzerland and trained with a female German shepherd named Kiss, which he quickly renamed Buddy. The training was hard, but after a few weeks Morris was able to get around the Swiss village safely with Buddy's assistance.

In June 1928, Frank returned to the US with Buddy in New York City. He notified the media and demonstrated Buddy's abilities by crossing a busy New York street. According to Morris "She [Buddy] moved forward into the ear-splitting clangor, stopped, backed up, and started again. I lost all sense of direction and surrendered myself entirely to the dog. I shall never forget the next three minutes: 10-ton trucks rocketing past, cabs blowing their horns in our ears, drivers shouting at us. When we finally got to the other side and I realized what a really magnificent job she had done, I leaned over and gave Buddy a great big hug and told her what a good, good girl she was."

Morris and Buddy - the famous New York City street crossing

Morris sent a one-word telegram to Eustis: "SUCCESS!"

In January 1929, Morris and Eustis cofounded the first guide dog school in the US called The Seeing Eye. It operated in Nashville for two years and then relocated to New Jersey because the weather was more suitable for training dogs. Between 1929 and 1956, Morris traveled throughout the US spreading the word about the organization and the need for equal access laws for people with guide dogs. By 1956, every state in the US had passed laws allowing blind people with guide dogs access to public spaces.

Buddy died on May 23, 1938. Morris named her replacement Buddy, as he would all his subsequent seeing eye dogs. On April 29, 2005, a sculpture of Frank Morris and Buddy titled The Way to Independence was unveiled in Morristown, New Jersey.

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