Good Dog Award Winner – NMSU’s College of Engineering

Students help a canine cancer survivor regain mobility

Credit: Image courtesy of New Mexico State University (NMSU)

The Good Dog Blog will be awarding a weekly “Good Dog Award” to those doing good things for dogs.

This week’s Good Dog Award goes to three students of the NMSU School of Engineering for building a canine wheelchair for Kita, a 17 year-old cancer survivor.

Kita lost his hind leg to bone cancer in the spring of 2016. Kita’s human companion Michelle Lebsock, noted that Kita remained active as a tri-pod, but that he tired easily and could not walk for long periods. Lebsock did an online search for how to construct a wheelchair for Kita, which led to a conversation with NMSU engineering student Natalia Perez.

Perez offered to create a wheelchair for Kita in the Aggie Innovation Space, along with fellow students Abdiel Jimenez and Arturo Dominguez. The three students worked tirelessly to create a comfortable and functional mobility device specifically designed for Kita’s needs.

Kita’s able to take those long walks again and their story was recently featured in Science Daily! Congratulations to Natalia, Abdiel, and Arturo, our Good Dog Award winners!