Anyone that truly knows me, knows that two of the things that I enjoy most is life is crocheting and helping animals in need. Recently a friend sent me a link for a program called Leggings for Life that puts crocheters and knitters in contact with pet parents who have an animal that suffers from some form of deformity or paralysis of the limbs. When their limbs are forced to be dragged across the ground as they move around, painful blisters and cuts will occur. Once the pet parents and crafters are paired together, custom leggings are made to help protect them from any future pain and suffering.
Shortly after I signed up, I was paired with a sweet little dog in Upstate New York named Angel. She had recently lost use of her back legs and when she would try to walk, she would drag her legs behind her which was causing some pretty painful wounds. I was honoured to be part of helping her lead a slightly more comfortable life.
As no real patterns exist for such a thing, I figured I would make a few prototypes leggings and would send them off for Angel to try on.
Thai happily served as my model for these prototypes! Although all of my cats are actually bigger than Angel, they would at least give me an idea of if they would work.
I eventually went with a corset style legging that would not only be easy to put on, but could be laced up so there was a nice tight fight would fear of them falling off anytime she tried to move about in her home.
The leggings made their way to Angel and her mum said that they helped her immensely. It felt really nice knowing that I helped her feel even just a bit more comfortable.
