Giving this a little plug.




Times have been a bit tough lately, people are cutting back on their spending. When this happens, usually the hardest hit groups are not-for-profits which run solely on contributions.

Take for instance Power Paw’s Assistance Dogs, they rely on donations and fundraisers to keep them going.

The group has 45 dogs in training. Each year, it matches 10 golden retrievers and Labrador retrievers with children and adults with disabilities.

“We are publicly supported, and we are holding our breath as to what’s coming,” Abels said.

Or look at Paws With A Cause, the group that trained Buddy, the dog who called 911 after his owner had a seizure.

About 80 percent of funding for Paws with a Cause is provided through workforce-donation campaigns, Davis said.

As employers slash jobs, though, fewer people are able to donate.

The dogs pick up dropped items, push elevator buttons, pay cashiers or even pull off pairs of socks.

“So many times people with disabilities don’t go out in public because it’s not accessible to them,” Abels said. “With a dog with them, they are able to become active members of the community.”

It’s so easy for those of us without disabilities to take these daily tasks for granted, something we don’t give an afterthought. We don’t think about what it would be like if we couldn’t pick something up because we dropped it, or what would happen if a fire started and we couldn’t hear the alarm.

These dogs not only give persons with disabilities a level of independence they could not achieve on their own, they also react in life-threatening situations. What would have happened to Buddy’s owner if he wasn’t around? Scary thought.

If the picture above doesn’t make you scrape together a few dollars to donate, I haven’t done my job very well. Come on Dogsters, let’s help support the service dogs that support us.

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Related entries» By category Dog News, Hero Dogs and Cats, Other Websites, Rescue Groups and Information, Working Dogs.By tag disabilities, dogs service, donations, handicapped, working.

2 Woofs
9/20/08 at 11:28 am Veronica, Sabrina and Ollivander

Thank you for recognizing the hard times that service dog organizations are facing right now! Remember that not all service dogs are trained by schools– often the disabled handler themself trains the dog (and so takes on all the costs of obtaining, training and equipment). The Psychiatric Service Dog Society https://www.psychdog.org gives free training and legal advice, help and support to hundreds of service dog teams– both dogs from programs and dogs trained by their disabled handler. They have provided invaluable education, advocation, research and training support for all psychiatric service dogs. Please consider donating to this wonderful service dog organization in addition to the others mentioned– they even accept paypal!

9/20/08 at 12:39 pm Rachel

This blog is so informative. I learned alot from it. I learned so much that i didn’t know before about service dogs. I never knew that a dog could sense such things.

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