UPPER EAST SIDE — An image of a rottweiler lying in a wheelbarrow has been the subject of fliers popping up all over the neighborhood in the last few weeks.
The picture is of Leopold, who is almost 7 and in need of orthopedic surgery to walk properly again, after the pup's owner — John Michaels, a disabled Marine Corps veteran battling PTSD — left the dog's torn leg ligament untreated for nearly a year, Michaels said.
Last summer, Michaels took Leopold to Carl Schurz's dog park, on East 86th Street and the East River. While playing, the dog suddenly let out a yelp and could not get up to walk, said Michaels, 42, who lives on East 87th Street.
Unable to carry him, Michaels put Leopold in the groundskeeper's wheelbarrow and pushed him home.
"I scooped him up with all my might and then I wheeled him from Carl Schurz park and up my block," he said. "It was hard to do because he's heavy. When I got to my building, I got behind him and pushed him up one flight of stairs and hoisted him onto the bed."
But it wasn't until Michaels recently took Leopold to the vet that he found out what had ailed the dog that day. Leopold had torn the ACL in his knee. But since he was hurt last summer, the dog, who's also suffering from hip dysplasia, had just been hobbling around with scar tissue from the injury, Michaels said.
Michaels said he hadn't taken the dog to the vet sooner because of his own disability, which causes him to get severely depressed and unable to get out of his bed. He was also, and still is, unemployed and needed to raise the money for his pet's treatment, he said.
"For a while he was cooped up in the apartment, stressed and depressed," Michaels said. "He couldn't see his friends [at the dog park] and I was giving him treats — I realized that made him gain way too much weight.
"It's been very hard on me," he continued.
In June, Michaels said he was finally able to muster the strength to start fundraising. He began posting fliers with links to a GoFundMe page that's aiming to raise $5,000, including $3,500 for Leopold's surgery and $1,500 for rehab and doctor's appointments to follow. The page raised $2,106 as of Monday morning.
Michaels hopes to have the operation done at the ASPCA on 92nd Street, and he plans to send the doctor's reports to anyone who donates money toward Leopold's medical needs, he said.
"I’m surprised," he said. "Because of all the negativity we see in the media, I am happily surprised that there are still so many good-hearted people."
Michaels, who worked in finance before he left his job because of his disability, got Leopold when the dog was 7 weeks old. When he sat down among the puppies, Leopold "stepped on the other guys' heads" to get to him and licked his chin, he said.
"I said this one is mine," Michaels said. "He still has that attitude."
Leopold is known to open the refrigerator and take out food, and when anyone visits he immediately finds something on the floor to bring to them, Michaels said.
He said his goal is to get Leopold to walk more than just around their block and to get him back with the other dogs at the park because he's been depressed for so long.
"When he goes to the dog park he rests and relaxes," Michaels said. "At 123 pounds not having his energy managed can be difficult. I don't want to neglect him of the world."
