Despite experiencing the worst of humankind, Cola the dog still manages to wag its tail and embrace a pat.

The dog was nine months old when its front legs were hacked off with a sword by a neighbour as punishment for chewing a pair of shoes in Bangkok, Thailand.

The horrific incident was reported to the Soi Dog Foundation – Asia’s largest animal welfare group focussed on stray cats and dogs – who jumped in to save Cola’s life.

One of Cola’s legs had been hacked off. The other leg was “holding on by a thread”.

Losing a lot of blood and on the brink of death, Cola was moved from a small clinic to a larger, experienced veterinary clinic in Bangkok.

Now Cola – a dog that appears to be a one-year-old German shepherd – is learning to walk again with the help of prosthetic legs.

Soi Dog Foundation’s video (above) of Cola walking on his new prosthetics has been viewed more than six million times on Facebook since it was uploaded this week.

Foundation co-founder John Dalley told the ABC Cola snuck next door and “nibbled” on his neighbours shoes.

The dog’s elderly owner offered the neighbour the equivalent of $A40 to compensate, but they returned that night armed with a sword.

In court, the man said the attack was an accident, Mr Dalley said. The man was issued one month’s detention for the crime.

Mr Dalley said Cola was adapting well to the new legs.

“He had wheels at first, just to keep him moving and get him going to allow the wounds to properly heal,” he said.

“He managed to adapt to walking on his back legs only kangaroo-fashion, but with [prosthetic] legs on is able to run and play.

“I went to visit him and as soon as you opened the cage door Cola was just straight away wagging his tail, he really is a gentle dog.

“Dogs – and Cola is a good example – never cease to amaze me how, despite often enduring terrible cruelty, readily forgive and make wonderful pets. A few remain scarred for life and cannot be adopted so stay at our shelter for life.”

Cola ‘right at home’ with double-amputee

Despite many offers of adoption, Cola quickly found a home with Mr Dalley and his wife Gill.

“Gill and Cola bonded immediately, so he won’t be going anywhere now,” Mr Dalley said.

Mrs Dalley is a double amputee herself, after contracting a rare bacteria while rescuing a dog in 2004 from a flooded water buffalo field.

“Gill went up to Bangkok to collect Cola and bring him down to Phuket as she well understands the issues in starting to wear prosthetics an the need to slowly build up the length of time for wear,” Mr Dalley said.

Mr and Mrs Dalley moved to Thailand 13 years ago to retire. Instead they established the Soi Dog Foundation with an aim of ending the suffering of homeless dogs and cats on the streets of Asia.

Operations have expanded from Phuket to Bangkok, Vietnam, South Korea and soon, Myanmar.

Mr Dalley said while the attack on Cola was tragic, sadly it did surprise staff.

“Dogs come in every week with machete attacks – it is common to have those long machetes that are used for cutting grass, so we have dogs coming in with legs hacked off, but rarely two legs,” he said.

“It doesn’t shock us anymore, sadly,” he said.

Soi Dog Foundation helps homeless, neglected and abused cats and dogs and relies heavily on donations.

-ABC