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Orangeville teen raises money to buy paralyzed bunny a wheelchair

Oreo the rabbit (Robyn Koley/Facebook)

Thanks to the kindness of strangers, Oreo will be able to walk again.

Oreo the 4-year-old black-and-white Netherland dwarf rabbit recently battled a near-deadly bacterial infection, which left his left hind legs partially paralyzed.

Instead of hopping around, the rabbit is now confined to a padded laundry basket. He occasionally drags himself around by his front paws.

“Now he can’t use his hind legs. When he wants to walk, he starts kicking and fussing around,” Orangeville resident Robyn Koley, Oreo’s 19-year-old owner, told the Orangeville Banner. “I posted a video of him trying to get around on his own and its very sad. He kind of flip-flops all over the place.”

“He’s not in any pain, but depression [is] an issue,” she said. “He can’t figure out why his back legs aren’t working.”

Koley wasn’t about to give up on her beloved pet. She set up an online donations page, hoping to raise the funds needed to buy Oreo a wheelchair.

It worked. It didn’t take long before Koley raise the $300 needed for an American-made aluminum wheelchair.

“To experience so much love and kindness from people all over has just been overwhelming,” Koley told the Orangeville Banner. “I never dreamed the fundraising would be this successful, but I’m so grateful.”

Any additional funds raised will be given to the Rescue Angels Society.

“I’ve never really been huge on social media myself,” Koley told the Toronto Star. “But I made him a Facebook page and it got over 500 likes in less than 24 hours…Now my friends know I’ll go to extreme lengths for any of my pets.”

She told the Toronto Star that she had heard of doggy wheelchairs, but had to do some research to discover of bunny versions were also available.

“I did a lot of research on it. I looked on YouTube and everything, and rabbits are actually able to get around on the wheelchair pretty well. Some of them are even able to use their litter boxes after they get the chair.”

Watch a bunny wheelchair in action below.

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Later this week Oreo will be heading to Mt. Albert, Ont., to see Molly Barber, a former veterinary technician who has a business that imports animal wheelchairs. Barber will fit Oreo with his very own wheelchair.

“There were so many times when people were like, ‘You’re spending an insane amount of money on this animal you’ve had for four years. You don’t know how much longer he’s going to live. It’s just a rabbit,’” Koley said.

“But to know that he gets to live a little bit longer and be happier and that he doesn’t have to sit around and be disabled for the rest of his life, that he gets a wheelchair — that really, really pushed me and helped me to make the decision.”

“I contemplated euthanizing him and now, seeing him get all excited and starting to act normal again, it’s really satisfying.”