Molly the pony's story begins on August 28th 2005, after hurricane Katrina decimated the city of New Orleans. Abandoned by her owners, Molly spent a few weeks on her own before being rescued along with other abandoned animals by Kaye Harris. However, Molly's troubles were far from over!

While at Kaye's farm, the Shetland pony was attacked by a pit bull. Poor Molly was bitten and gnawed at in various places, but the worst was her right leg. A few weeks after the attack, this leg became severely infected.

Local veterinarian, Dr. Barco decided to take her to the Louisiana State University's (LSU) vet school for examination and consultation. She was hoping that she could get Molly's leg amputated and replaced with an artificial one.

The doctors at LSU, overwhelmed by the aftermath from the hurricane, almost refused to treat Molly. Besides fitting a horse with a prosthetic leg was almost unheard of. But Dr. Barco persisted and finally convinced Dr. Rustin Moore, a surgeon at LSU to examine Molly.

Dr. Moore was amazed by what he saw. Molly was doing everything she could to survive her injury. She would avoid putting weight on her right leg, constantly shift around so she wouldn't get sores and even allow doctors to check her injured leg. She really wanted to survive!

He decided to operate on her and with help from the Humane Society and Lifesavers Inc., they managed to gather enough funds to pay for Molly's expenses.

Today Molly is a happy little camper. She is back at the animal shelter and loves her new leg, which she runs over to get fitted every morning. She also makes it very clear when she wants it off. She sometimes even canters off on her three legs and Kay has to catch her.

For the people of New Orleans, Molly is more than a pony - she is an inspiration of someone who survived against all odds! Kay and Molly are now regular visitors to shelters, hospitals and nursing homes to provide kids and adults with hope and inspiration.

In fact, Molly inspired Pam Kaster so much, that she recently published a children's book about this brave little pony, called "Molly the Pony - a true story", available at all bookstores and through Amazon.com by clicking the link below.

Source: hoofcare.blogspot.com,livesavers Inc.