Dudley was just a few months old when he was ripped away from his mother and sold to a cattle rancher who planned to sell him for slaughter. Not long after the traumatic separation, a piece of twine wrapped around the bull's foot, cutting off blood flow so badly that his foot fell off.
The rancher decided to call the Gentle Barn, a foundation and animal sanctuary in Santa Clarita, CA that's home to more than 170 rescued animals, to see if they'd be interested in taking Dudley. Spared from slaughter, the bull was in good hands with Jay Weiner and Ellie Laks, who co-founded the Gentle Barn. Watching Laks and Dudley interact is like watching a mother cuddle and love her baby. (They remind me a lot of Fiete, the happiest bull on Earth, and his caretaker.)
Finally, after months of veterinary care, Dudley had trouble standing for long periods of time. Seeing his pain, Laks had the bull fitted with a prosthetic leg that would allow him to walk again. His first steps are captured in the video below as his human caretaker looks on like a proud mama.
Dudley's leg was designed by Ronnie Graves, a man who owns Veterinary Inclusive Prosthetics/Orthotics in Bushnell, Florida. (Graves lost his leg in an accident when he was only 20 years old.)
"I lost a leg. What if nobody had paid attention to me? What if nobody had decided to help me?" Graves told the local news station.
This is such a beautiful story to see an animal overcome a huge obstacle, thanks to the help of a few heroes.
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