Someone Stole Baby’s Pink Wheelchair. Then Everyone Showed Up.

Before Baby ever needed a pink wheelchair, before anyone knew the name of the disease that was slowly changing the way she moved, her story had already begun with a goodbye.

In February 2017, her family surrendered her to The Pittie Party of Central Florida because they were moving and could no longer keep her. Soon afterward, Baby was placed with a retired couple who could give her the time and attention she needed. What began as foster care gradually became something more permanent. Baby was not an easy dog to place, partly because of what the rescue affectionately describes as her quirky personality, and the couple had grown deeply attached to her. They wanted her to stay, but they could not afford to take on all of her expenses.

So the rescue found another way. Baby remained with the couple she knew and loved, while The Pittie Party continued covering the cost of her care. For the next five years, that arrangement gave her stability, a home and people who understood her.

Then Baby began to change.

Around the age of five, Baby began showing problems with her balance. At first, the symptoms seemed small: a slight head tilt, followed by unusual circular movements. Over time, she began stumbling more frequently, and it became clear that something was wrong.

The rescue began a long search for answers. Baby saw her regular veterinarian, then a neurologist, where she underwent an MRI and spinal tap. When those tests still failed to explain her worsening balance, they turned to an ear specialist and even an exploratory procedure. After all of it, Baby was still without a diagnosis.

As her mobility declined, caring for her became more than the retired couple could safely manage. Baby moved into the home of Sarah Schmidt, founder of The Pittie Party of Central Florida, who became her hospice mom. By then, the uncertainty surrounding Baby’s condition had become as difficult as the physical symptoms themselves. Without a diagnosis and with her condition continuing to progress, euthanasia was eventually recommended.

The rescue was devastated, but it was not ready to stop looking.

As a final effort, The Pittie Party began reaching out to other veterinarians in the hope that someone might recognize what had been missed. Eventually, they connected with Dr. Nadine Wright of Saint Francis Animal Hospital in St. Cloud, Florida.

She asked whether Baby had ever undergone an Embark DNA Health test. No one had previously suggested one.

The rescue ordered a kit and collected Baby’s DNA with a simple cheek swab. A few weeks later, after years of appointments, specialists and invasive procedures, the results finally gave them the answer they had been searching for.

According to The Pittie Party, Baby’s health screening identified Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, Cerebellar Ataxia, NCL4A, a rare inherited neurodegenerative condition. The same test also confirmed that Baby was 100% pit bull.

For years, the rescue had been trying to understand why Baby was losing her balance and mobility. Now the condition finally had a name, and that changed what came next. Instead of continuing to search for an explanation, the people caring for Baby could focus on helping her live as comfortably and independently as possible.

In 2023, Baby received the pink wheelchair that would become such an important part of her daily life.

Because of the way her neurological condition affected her balance, she needed more than a standard mobility cart. Her chair had to provide enough support to keep her stable as she walked without allowing her body to bounce around. It was specialized, expensive equipment, but for Baby it meant far more than mobility alone.

With her wheelchair, she could move around more freely, get outside and go potty with much greater independence. Over time, the pink chair became an ordinary part of caring for her, something she depended on every day.

Because the wheelchair was bulky and needed to be kept away from other dogs in the home who might chew on it, it was stored on the porch of Baby’s hospice home in St. Cloud. It had been kept there for years without incident.

Then, on August 19, 2026, someone came onto the property and took it.

There were no nearby cameras that captured the theft. The rescue filed a police report, but they knew there was no guarantee the wheelchair would ever be recovered. In the meantime, Baby was once again without the equipment that allowed her to get around.

The Pittie Party started a fundraiser to replace the stolen wheelchair. For a rescue already dealing with rising costs and relying heavily on community donations, purchasing another specialized chair was not a small expense.

But Baby’s story began reaching people, and support started coming in.

Among those who heard what had happened was Ruck9, an organization that helps disabled animals access quality mobility equipment. The group contacted the rescue and offered to provide Baby with a brand-new pink wheelchair.

That meant the money already raised would no longer need to be used to replace the chair. Instead, The Pittie Party said those funds would be placed in an account for Baby’s ongoing medical care and supplies, helping support the needs that will continue long after the immediate crisis has passed.

For Baby, another set of wheels was on the way.

For the rescue, it was another reminder that even during a difficult period of rising costs and stretched resources, people were still willing to show up for a dog who needed them.

It would be easy to make Baby’s story about the person who stole a disabled senior dog’s wheelchair. But that theft represents only a small part of a much longer story.

For nearly a decade, Baby has been surrounded by people who kept finding ways to make her life work: the retired couple who fostered her for five years, a rescue willing to keep covering her care, veterinarians who continued looking for answers, and Sarah, the founder who eventually brought Baby into her own home when her needs became more complicated.

Sarah built The Pittie Party around the dogs she calls the “misfits”: the ones who have nowhere else to turn. Baby has been one of them for almost ten years. And through every change in her life, someone has stepped in before her world could become smaller.

When her wheelchair disappeared, that happened again. The community rallied, Ruck9 stepped forward, and a new set of pink wheels is now on the way.

Someone stole Baby’s wheels.

But for nearly a decade, people have kept making sure she can keep moving forward.