One-hundred percent of our service dog candidates are rescues. All dogs we adopt for the program undergo a medical evaluation to ensure they are physically fit and sound for the lifestyle of a service dog. At the time of adoption, we always ask our adoption partners if there is any medical history on the dog, and we adopt dogs in visibly good health with no medical issues. However, there are times when a health issue is determined after adoption, or a dog experiences a medical need while in our care over the 12-24 months they reside with us.
For example, Lucky is a healthy, vibrant Labrador mix we adopted early in 2022 to begin our psychiatric service dog training program. A few months into his training program, he experienced a common CCL tear. With CCL tears, they often occur in pairs. While Lucky’s sponsor contributed toward his adoption, housing, training and general care for the 12-24 months he is in our program, the $17,000 in surgical repairs for both CCL repairs has depleted our Emergency Medical Fund.
It is our goal to have a $20,000 reserve in our Emergency Medical Fund at all times, in order to accommodate emergency medical needs for our service dogs in training to ensure the best care can be quickly provided to any of our twenty-five resident dogs in training at any given time without depleting funds from our general operating funds.
