Woman in Huntington Beach Adopts Dogs with Disabilities

If you walk around Huntington Beach, California, you may spot a woman holding five leashes with one hand and pulling a wagon with the other. A closer look will show she has seven dogs with her – and none of them are walking on all four legs. Her name is Debbie Pearl, and all of her dogs have disabilities and use wheelchairs or prosthetic limbs.

There is no doubt Pearl is a dog lover – she trains them for movies and said she has always had "quite a few" of her own dogs at home. In 2005, she created a nonprofit called Dream Fetchers, which helps rescue dogs from the streets and from euthanasia. As part of the organization's mission, members of Pearl's personal pack work as therapy dogs.

About nine years ago, she adopted her first dog with a disability, Fast Eddie.

"Eddie was definitely my inspiration for adopting other disabled dogs," Pearl told CBS News. "He was so full of life. He never let anything slow him down. I mean, he truly was, what you would say, the word 'unstoppable' encompasses."

One woman's love for disabled dogs has led her to create a pack of survivors. Pearl, a resident of California, has dedicated her life to rescuing and adopting dogs with special needs.

Pearl's journey began when she found Eddie, a dog with a spinal injury, on the streets of California. Like most of her dogs, Eddie was discovered through a shelter that reached out to Pearl for adoption. "After we rescued Eddie, I was contacted about another dog that was in Mexico," Pearl shared. "When I saw him, it was love at first sight."

Word spread about Pearl's incredible care for disabled dogs, and more and more people started reaching out to her. "The word got out that I was a really great home," Pearl laughed. "One after the other, dogs started to come."

Pearl refers to her pack of dogs as "The Unstoppable Dogs." The pack includes Zeek, Pop, Speedy, Eddie, Stevie, Elliot, and Sydney. All of them are survivors of abuse. Most of the dogs use special wheelchairs to help them move, while Elliot and Sydney use prosthetics. As they are still learning to walk with their new devices, Pearl pulls them in a wagon while walking the other dogs.

About once a week, she gathers up her crew and takes them to hospitals, schools or the Easter Seals — a nonprofit that helps adults with disabilities.

"I look for dogs that have been through traumatic events, but that have this amazing gift of forgiveness," Pearl said. "And that's a powerful thing for a lot of people, because they can see the courage, the resilience that these dogs have. And all of mine have been through the worst – and they've come out shining."

Pearl and her dogs are not only known around Huntington Beach, but around the world. Her "Unstoppable Dogs" Instagram page has 137,000 followers. She said lot of their social media followers and the people they visit for therapy have disabilities as well and they can relate to the dogs – and their joy.

"All of these dogs are extremely resilient, for sure. But one dog definitely stands out above all the rest and that dog, I think, is Elliot." Pearl said. "So, Elliot is a victim of extreme abuse. He lost all four of his legs at the hands of humans. And he has now got four prosthetic legs. And this is a dog that never walked for a year of his life, and now he's re-learning to walk again."

Pearl said to her, Elliot exemplifies "courage and resilience."