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Frankfort officials hope to help blind kangaroo

FRANKFORT, Ind. (WLFI) – There’s a hopping new attraction at Frankfort’s TPA Park. While visitors line up to meet Rudy the kangaroo, Rudy can’t see the visitors because he’s blind.

“He’s a good guy,” said George Belmore, Frankfort’s parks superintendent.

Just talking about Rudy the Kangaroo brings tears to Belmore’s eyes. And it’s Rudy’s eyes that landed him in Belmore’s care.

“We wish he had his sight,” said Belmore.

Rudy was donated to Frankfort’s TPA Park in April. He’s almost two years old and is expected to grow to five feet tall. Belmore said Rudy came to them blind.

“What we’ve learned is that kangaroos are, for the most part, lactose intolerant, and unfortunately, the previous owners gave him milk and gave him cataracts,” said Belmore.

City officials are currently looking for a specialist who may be able to determine if the cataracts can be reversed.

“With today’s technology, there is a chance that maybe his sight can be restored, so we are kind of reaching out to anyone to say, ‘We’ll take a look at him,” said Belmore.

The city is raising funds for Rudy and all the other animals at the park by selling off pieces of art that the animals have painted.

“Using, not only Rudy, but our muntjac here and the birds, we put them on some canvas and we let them work their magic,” explained Belmore.

It’s magic Belmore hopes helps the animals, especially his friend Rudy.

“We hope he’ll be here for the next 20 years,” said Belmore.

There will be an auction for the canvas art this Saturday at the Hot Dog Festival. For more information on that, click here.