Several Wisconsin high school students are teaming up to change the life of a three-month-old puppy named Forest Stump.
When Forrest was found living in an abandoned area in Texas, he lost one of his hind legs. So now, engineering and biomedical classes in Case High School in Wisconsin is stitching their heads together to create a prosthetic for sweet Forrest.
Forrest was a three-month-old Sheppard mix, found while living with his mother and siblings under an abandoned barracks in southern Texas. He is a happy, playful dog. But when he was found, he had lost one of his hind feet, and the area had become infected.
Candlestick Texas Rescue Riders took him to Wisconsin in hopes of finding him a new, loving home. Their wonderful rescuers in Texas saved the animals on the streets and raised these sweet souls back to health. They then take them to the Midwest, where they help them find permanent homes.
Forest currently lives with a foster family while he works with students at High school. One of their teachers explained how senior capstone projects always involve creating a solution to a real-world problem.
“It helps the kids try harder if it’s just something that I come up with in class and say, ‘do this, I’m the only one seeing it.’ Now, it’s really stressful for them to understand that this is going to be really used and what I’m doing is really, really important,” explains Sara Gauthier, their teacher.
Their teachers hope that picking out a cause they can be personally invested in will motivate students even more. So far, students have recorded Forrest’s measurements and used a 3D laser to scan his feet. Next, they will work in groups to come up with some solutions.
Since this is something that can have a big impact on an animal that is really in need, some students felt a little nervous after grasping the gravity of the situation.
“This is like a living being and this can really affect his life. So it’s been really stressful, but it’s interesting that if it succeeds, then we can help the puppy,” said senior Caitlin McGuire.
The class says they hope to complete Forrest’s prosthetic foot within a few weeks. With winter fast approaching, they hope to have Forrest’s new legs ready before the first scabs fall off.
Forrest is not currently being adopted, and he has a permanent home lined up after his prosthetic was created.
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