Assemblyman Benedetto, WELL Campaign
promote youth health and wellness
once we do that, we have to
start a second push to get
the needed funding.”
Benedetto said that the
state already has health
standards, and that it is
up to the local school districts
to develop curriculum
that addresses these
standards.
Kelly Moltzen, Bronx
Health REACH project
manager, who attended
the press conference, said
a model wellness program
for youth, which Benedetto
and the WELL Campaign
are advocating for,
could include nutrition
education, healthy school
food and comprehensive
school physical activity
program.
The comprehensive
program includes physical
activity before and
after school, physical education
and parental involvement,
she said.
Mary takes Lexi and Candy for a walk. Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
Throggs Neck couple rescues
fi ve wheelchair-bound dogs
BY PATRICK ROCCHIO
A Throggs Neck couple
has opened their home and
their hearts to a group of
dogs that are easy to love
despite some physical challenges.
Mary and Tom Fayet
adopted and became the
caretakers of fi ve dogs that
require front or rear wheelchairs
to remain mobile,
over the past several years.
They are known as animal
rescuers with experience
working with dogs who
have disabilities and nonfunctional
or weak front or
hind legs.
It all began with Lexi,
who’s known by more than
20,000 Instagram followers.
She’s a Maltese Pekingese
mix breed dog whose
front legs don’t function but
is nevertheless a rock star of
a pooch with the pet lovers
who follow her website littlemixlexi.
com, sharing her
journey and latest fashions
and grooming styles.
A few years ago, her
original family put her up
for adoption on Craigslist,
which often doesn’t work out
well for animals, Mary said.
She decided to adopt her
and train her to walk, no
easy task since dogs often
steer themselves with their
front legs, she said.
“Her family loved her –
they just didn’t know how
to take care of her,” she said,
adding that she trained Lexi
to walk by taking her to work
and having her navigate
through the crowded streets
of Herald and Times squares
in Manhattan.
Lexi is a therapy dog
with the Good Dog Foundation
and has been used extensively
at Manhattan’s VA
hospital in this role when
her owner is able, said Mary.
After rescuing Lexi, who
was born in 2013, the Fayet’s
adopted Tomek, a dog whose
rear legs were disabled in a
hunting accident in his native
Poland in 2015.
Tomek, Polish for
Thomas, was described by
his owners as a true mixture
or a “Heinz 57 of a dog.”
He uses his front legs well
and like two of Fayet’s other
dogs, uses a rear leg wheelchair,
and oftentimes wears
a doggie diaper, which is
common for canines whose
rear legs are disabled and
can complicate adoptions.
Then came Mr. Boojangels,
who appeared on Animal
Planet’s Dog Bowl television
program and is a Poodle
Pug Shih Tzu mixture who
is currently up for adoption,
Mary said.
“We named him Mr. Boojangels
because when he gets
excited, his little feet look
like they are dancing,” she
said.
Tobi, who became the
fourth member of the pack,
is a very strong dog who is a
fi ve years old and is a French
Bulldog Shih Tzu mix, said
his owners.
He had a hunch back because
he was constantly
standing and trying to walk
on his hind legs, but the
wheelchair straighted out
his back, said Tom.
After placing him in a
chair, he was able to learn
how to walk, and now lives
in a much more stimulating
environment, his family
said.
Candy, the newest addition,
a Maltese, would have
been euthanized at a Brooklyn
shelter had she not been
adopted. Rear leg amputations
didn’t prevent Candy,
as well as Lexi, who is described
by Mary as a ‘diva’,
from appearing on a Netfl ix
series called ‘Dogs,’ in an episode
about rescue animals.
“We have had people come
up to us teary-eyed, telling us
that if they knew about these
wheelchairs, they would still
have their dogs,” she said,
adding that the main thing to
know is that “you don’t have
to give up your dog, there are
options.”
15 BRONX WEEKLY June 2, 2019 www.BXTimes.com from Page 1
Tom Fayet walks Tomek and Mr.
Bojangles. Photo by Silvio Pacifi co
Assemblyman Michael Benedetto held a press conference with the WELL Campaign and its partners on
Thursday, May 16 outside his district offi ce. Schneps Media / Patrick Rocchio
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