When a duck named Merlin was born with a defect in his left leg, his prospects in life seemed very bleak.
But that was before he was adopted last fall by the caring folks at the Annandale, New Jersey-based Goats of Anarchy Sanctuary.
They knew that Merlin couldn’t thrive if sentenced to a life of immobility rather than being able to waddle like his fellow ducks.
So they contacted a unique company located in Amherst, New Hampshire called Walkin’ Pets.
Founded in 2001, Walkin’ Pets specializes in fitting disabled animals with specially designed wheelchairs that they custom create.
Although the most common customers helps by the Walkin’ Pets team are dogs and cats, their engineers were able to change the specifications on their mini-wheelchair model so that it fit Merlin.
The founder of Walkin’ Pets, Mark Robinson, admits he was “thrilled” to have the opportunity to help the company’s first ever handicapped duck.
This February, Merlin was fitted with his custom made wheelchair and took to it immediately, almost like a duck takes to the water.
The social media coordinator for the company, Mikayla Feehan, was there to take video to capture the historic moment.
She said is was an “amazing” experience to watch Merlin take his first waddle, noting it was a very heartwarming moment.
Although Walkin’ Pets designed the wheelchair to be able to be taken into water, they recommend avoiding salt water so that the wheelchair parts don’t deteriorate.
Disabled duck Merlin has the distinction of becoming the first ever duck client for Walkin’ Pets, which has aided more than 50,000 disabled pets worldwide since its founding with specially designed and custom-fitted wheelchairs to aid mobility.
