Holy hotdog, Batman! A Formosan dog who was disabled after being struck by a car is living up to his superhero moniker — and flying around in his new wheelchair, the “Batmobile.”
In this YouTube video, Batman tears across a parking lot, a grassy field, over a curb, up and down a flight of stairs; and he sports a black cape with the yellow bat symbol. He even roughhouses with other dogs (Is that you, Robin?) — with and without his Batmobile.
Batman has literally come a long way. The black pup was found injured, with no use of his hind legs, in an alley in Taiwan, thought to be there for days after being hit by a car that just kept driving. A rescue group called Love & Second Chances in San Ramon, Calif., raised $1,400 to bring Batman to the Sunshine State.
“When the dog was first discovered, he was taken to a local veterinarian there,” Melody Chen, founder of the rescue group, told the Daily Democrat. “They did the initial surgery on him but said his chances of being adopted over there were not good. They put the dog into a foster care system with other dogs and left him in a small area by himself. I knew he would have a better quality of life over here and possibly being adopted.”
Veterinarians said Batman would never walk again. But just try and tell him that! The accident may have severed his spinal cord, but after going through physical therapy, he recently started wiggling his legs, an action called “reflexive walking.” The spinal cord steers his movements without the use of his brain. He’s now being outfitted for donated custom leg braces to help him get around without his Batmobile.
Batman — estimated to be about 3 years old — currently calls the home of a veterinary student from UC Davis his Batcave, although he’s looking for a permanent place to park his Batmobile. For more information visit his Facebook page.
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Jasmin Aline Persch is an LA-based writer, M.D. candidate and lover of cape-sporting, wheelchair-bound dogs.
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