A three-legged dog from Wisconsin has become a hunting champion, earning her Master Hunter title and becoming an inspiration in her hometown of De Pere.
From the day she was born, Feather had hunting running through her veins and excelled at her work in the field, causing her owner to send her down south for additional training in the winter of 2011.
“She had her junior hunt title before she was a year old and loved the work, which is why I decided to send her south,” June Ashford, Feather’s owner, told WBAY.
The young dog’s life changed on a dime while completing a routine water drill during her winter training in Georgia.
“She picked up her mark and as she came in she jumped back in the water and a water moccasin slithered out from the weeds and she landed right on top of it,” says Ashford.
After suffering multiple bites from the venomous snake in her groin, her trainer rushed her to a local veterinarian for treatment.
“They gave her the anti-venom, they gave her all the antibiotics but it was just too much, so got her back to Wisconsin and she ended up down at Fox Valley and they said it was either take the leg off or lose the dog. 48 hours after surgery they called and told me to come pick her up and at first I thought they were telling me to pick her up because she had died and they told me no, they really couldn’t contain her,” says Ashford with a chuckle.
Since then, she has bounced back and carries on just the same as she did before losing her leg and has become an inspiration to residents of her hometown.
“All of her titles have come after she lost her leg, she’s all heart, no quit,
We’ve done some programs with some challenged children and challenged adults and it’s like nothing has to stop you, if you’ve got the will, if you’ve got the talent, you can accomplish anything,” says Ashford.
