Oxfordshire, UK – Non-Profit Dogs for the Disabled has recently received £970,000 from National Lottery Funding. This goes to help raise and train dogs that assist all types of people with disabilities whether it be physical, or people with autism.
Since the charity does not get any government funding it relies solely on volunteers, donations, and fundraisers. Raising and trading a single dog costs £12,000. Lifetime maintenance costs £20,000. This may seem steep to some, but the benefits these dogs provide are priceless.
Take Teresa Fletcher whose 7-year-old daughter Beth has autism. Beth was diagnosed with the learning difference at an early age. Like most of the spectrum she seemed to move in her own world, often times running out into the streets and screaming at the slightest sounds. Thankfully, when she was five her mother attended a National Autism Society event where she heard about Dogs for the Disabled and their assistance dogs specifically trained to handle people with autism. The family soon adopted Quarts, an 18-month-old Golden Retriever. In the two short years of living with the Fletchers this congenial canine has relaxed the entire family, but mostly Beth.
To o learn more about how you can help Dogs for the Disabled please go to the website: http://www.dogsforthedisabled.org/
Contributed by Audrey L. Hollingshead reporting.
Source: Kate Hilpern on the Parentdish website: The special dog who’s transformed my autistic daughter’s life