Changing Gear: Fur-Wheel Drive
Michelle Okashima started fostering dogs as a teenager, and her love for helping them has only grown. Her life always had dogs in the mix.
When Okashima’s rescue dog, Virgil, started suffering from neurological issues caused by a gunshot wound in his youth, she said he’d fall over and list to one side as he walked. Not wanting Virgil’s old age to be spent lying around, she looked for a wheelchair for the time he had left.
Pat Abbey, founder and chairperson of Village Pet Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to providing assistance for pet medical bills, offered Okashima a grant for a wheelchair. Okashima thought it was extreme to buy one for what was most likely going to be a short period of time — and wondered whether the foundation could simply loan her a wheelchair.
Pat liked the idea, and the two women decided to start a program for just that purpose. And so, Virgil’s Happy Wheels, a free wheelchair-loaning program at Village Pet Foundation, was born. In early May of 2025, Virgil became the first dog to receive a loaner wheelchair. The project, led by Okashima, gained traction as she spread the word from her pet store, Hot Diggity Dog & Cat. Abbey said that soon they were providing the service all the way to Fernley.
“The goal is to keep a dog who has a lot of life left in them living their best life,” Okashima said.
Dog wheelchairs provide support to dogs with weakened, immobile, or injured back legs, allowing them better mobility. Some quad wheelchairs have four wheels to support each of the dog’s legs. Running anywhere from $200 to $700, some chairs, as in Virgil’s case, are only used for an animal’s final stretch in their old age and many pet owners can’t afford the cost.
When vets found out about Virgil’s Happy Wheels, some told Abbey they had been euthanizing dogs whose owners couldn’t afford wheelchairs.
“When you’re faced with the option of euthanasia or getting your dog a wheelchair, it’s a tough one,” Okashima said. “We take that … monetary consideration out of the equation.”
Abbey said Village Pet Foundation operates under the philosophy that they’ll never let a pet get euthanized for lack of money for medical services, including wheelchairs, and 9 dogs have now been fitted for free by Okashima. Virgil’s Happy Wheels has 12 chairs so far: in sizes for small, medium, or large dogs, plus more in backstock. Dogs in need are given a wheelchair fitted to them and when they’re done with it, it’s returned.
“We’ve had some pretty remarkable stories,” Abbey said. “I just picked up a plaque for a woman. She donated a wheelie to us, and they had rescued a dog from Iraq, and they brought her back — and she had been injured in Iraq. She was a paraplegic, and they brought her back and got her a wheelie.”
Abbey said the donor wanted to remember her dog by passing on the wheelchair to another dog, to give that canine the same kind of freedom it had allowed her own. That chair has already been given to a new dog in need.
Virgil’s chair is also now back in the program, having fulfilled its purpose of keeping the dog’s world wide open before his passing. Okashima said he was unstoppable with his wheels, lighting up as he greeted people and happily wandering around.
“When it comes to immobile pets, you either get help or you don’t,” Abbey said.
One of the first recipients of a chair was Amanda Anderson’s Pitbull-Weimaraner mix, Tulip. Anderson knew Okashima and reached out shortly after Virgil’s Happy Wheels was started. Okashima immediately helped, fitting Tulip with a wheelchair that had adjustable wheels, straps, and an adaptable pink frame.
“It definitely was my miracle for that time,” Anderson said. “My mom always tells me to look for miracles and that was my miracle, and Tulip’s. I would just really want to make sure that people know how wonderful it is — and how wonderful it is for Michelle to be doing this for our community.”
While most dogs perk up at the sight of shoes being put on or a leash being brought out, Anderson said Tulip gets excited when the wheelchair comes out because she knows that she’ll be going on a walk. Without the chair, Anderson said Tulip can’t make it far before her back starts to sag and neurological issues take over her hind legs. The wheelchair, however, gives Tulip a taste of her old life of 20-mile runs and Tahoe hikes.
“The only thing that I would really want to just get out there is just how great of a program it is and how amazing Michelle is for doing it and getting it together for people in need,” Anderson said. “I was clueless on what I was going to do. You know, here is my dog that can’t barely walk anymore.”
The wheelies, as Okashima and Abbey call them, allow dogs to live their lives, granting them mobility to explore and move themselves around. For Christine Vernon’s dog, Indy, an almost 12-year-old Pitbull-Boxer mix who has had a few leg surgeries, the wheelchair has been a form of physical therapy, rebuilding muscle.
Indy had been a very active dog, and Vernon learned about Virgil’s Happy Wheels a few months after she had started carrying Indy around because of an ACL injury and arthritis. Now that Indy has regained more muscle from using her wheelie, she can go for short walks without the wheelchair’s help. While in her wheelchair, Indy can play ball, her favorite activity. Vernon said that without the wheelchair, Indy would likely over-exert herself and risk reinjury.
“It’s hard seeing dogs get old and not being able to do as much even though they want to, so it’s nice that she doesn’t seem as depressed anymore,” Vernon said. “She’s naturally a very happy dog.”
While most of the Virgil’s Happy Wheels dogs are older, Village Pet Foundation has two torn ACL cases in relatively younger animals that will be needing rehabilitation. Abbey said the vet was pleased to know that they can rehab in a wheelie. They’ll be the first two to rehab with Virgil’s Happy Wheels.
The success of Virgil’s Happy Wheels has been overwhelming for Okashima and Abbey, who both hope the program’s reach can continue to spread throughout the country, helping any dog in need. This fall, they’re planning to organize a puppy paralympics in Incline Village.
“Even though I lost Virgil, he created this wonderful legacy,” Okashima said.
