A down-on-her-luck shelter dog has been waiting for her forever home for two years—two too many for the caring volunteers at Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation in Hampton Bays, New York.The six-year-old pit bull mix named Tryla has just three legs, and they thought this might be the reason the sweet dog has been overlooked for so long.Enter 16-year-old Sarah Barros of Southampton High School—the leader of her school’s robotics team, the teen is hoping to give Tryla a new lease on life, and maybe even a new home, with a 3D printed prosthetic leg.
Shelter volunteers speculate that Tryla lost her right front leg when she was hit by a car as a young pup.Eventually, the dog’s owner could no longer for her, and surrendered Tryla to the shelter, where she’s unfortunately lived for the last two years.“She is an absolute darling, and it’s hard for individuals to sort of see past that extra effort that you have to put in for a dog with special needs,” said Amy Beth Stern of New York’s Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation.
“We here at the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation focus a lot on senior dogs and dogs with special needs and anything that sort of helps them along, whether it’s medication or a prosthetic leg, something that helps the animal live a better life and makes it easier on an owner will certainly help with applications and adoption.” This is, sadly, very true.Animals with special needs, like Tryla, require extra care, which often means extra money as well, and many aren’t willing to take on pets like this.But then Susan Denis, another volunteer at the shelter, had a lightbulb moment.
“I remember seeing a video of high-school students in Arkansas creating a prosthetic foot for a duck.I thought we could do that here, and I reached out to the high school right away,” Denis said.A counselor at the Long Island school knew just who to ask—Barros, a dog-loving robotics whiz with an interest in design engineering.
She recognized that the friendly dog could use a helping paw to find a good family, and was more than happy to take on the task.“I feel like a lot of the reason she’s not adopted is because people see too much management, too much hassle.I don’t think that’s fair because she is who she is — and she can’t change that.
So anything I can do to change that, I am happy to,” Barros said, calling the experience ‘a fun journey.’ The dog, Tryla, was brought to the Southampton Animal Shelter Foundation two years ago, and is believed to have lost her leg after getting hit by a car.Image: Dennis A.Clark.
However, before she could get started on the leg, Barros needed to raise the funds for the project.The robotics club was only founded last year, and doesn’t “have a lot of money to be spending on projects.” So Barros took matters into her own hands, calling on her teammates for fundraising help and making pamphlets to pass out to potential investors in the area.“We sent out emails to everyone, parents, went around after school talking to all the teachers, we went to town a few times and talked to some store owners.” The club managed to raise $300 for the project, which was used to purchase the resin and thermoplastic materials that would be used to print the prosthetic limb for Tryla on the school’s 3D printer.
Barros visited Tryla at the shelter three times to take the necessary measurements, including the paw on the dog’s opposite leg and the circumference of her nub.It can be hard to keep an energetic dog like Tryla still for that long, but Barros was armed with treats, and sat with the dog for an hour each visit to get her comfortable with the process.Barros, a dog-lover, worked with a classmate to start the 3D project.
Dennis A.Clark The teenager researched weight distribution in dogs, and learned that if the leg wasn’t measured properly, it could cause unnecessary wear on Tryla’s other joints.The trial and error process was lengthy—some models even pinched or irritated the dog’s skin.
But the work is now complete, and the final 3D printed prosthetic was recently fitted onto the dog for the first time.It’s helped Tryla be more active during the day when she wears it, as she’s able to achieve better stability.There’s also hope that the prosthetic limb will give Tryla a better chance at being adopted.
“She likes her humans a lot,” Stern said, noting that Tryla would do best in a house where she’s the only dog.“[She needs] someone who can exercise her and have patience with the fact that she does need a little bit of extra assistance.She needs to get her exercise to stay on the healthy weight side because her impairment can sort of lead to weight gain because she can’t be as active as some of the other dogs for as long of a period of time.
But [she needs] someone who’s going to love her the way we do.” As the owner of two rescue pitties myself, I sincerely hope that Tryla finds the loving home she deserves.The global veterinary ortho-prosthetics market was $54.3 million in 2024, with projected growth at a CAGR of over 9.2% from this year to 2034.This growth is driven by a variety of factors, including more orthopedic veterinarians, increasing pet population, and technology advancements—like 3D printing—for diagnosing and treating orthopedic issues.
There are plenty of examples of 3D printing being used to make prosthetic limbs for dogs, from dedicated companies like WIMBA to students like Sarah Barros.Barros said of Tryla, “She was really inspirational to me.I think the impact that both the community and STEM have for something both so simple and very big is crazy.” Subscribe to Our Email Newsletter Stay up-to-date on all the latest news from the 3D printing industry and receive information and offers from third party vendors.