Dog friends, just when you think you have it bad cuz have to wear the cone of shame, you ain't seen nothin'!
Pets with Disabilities helps dog friends who are blind, deaf and even wheelchair bound. But before you feel sorry for these pups, just take a look at how happy and loved they are.
I've seen dogs who have all their abilities living in homes that look worse then these fur friends. That doesn't mean these guys wouldn't love to have a home and family of their own though, and that's what Pets with Disabilities is all about.
But don't take my words for it, read what co-founder Joyce Darrell has to say.
How did Pets with Disabilities get started?
In 1998, Mike and I went down to our local rescue to adopt a new member of the family. We saw this vibrant young shepherd mix, and knew he was the one to join us. We brought him home and promptly named him Duke.
Duke was a wonderful, typical puppy who added lots of excitement and joy to our home. We had no idea he was about to change our lives forever. 2 months after adopting Duke, he was playing with another puppy and had a tragic accident, severing his spinal cord. At 6 months old our vibrant young rescue dog was in a wheelchair. Well guess what, Duke was still vibrant and young - he just had special needs. When we adopted Duke and took him home it was a commitment, thru sickness and health until death do us part – he was a member of our family. So many people forget that adopting a dog is a commitment, and once their dog gets ill or sick they still need to commit to caring for them.
A few months later we heard about another pup named Misty, living in a NY shelter for over 5 years. Nobody wanted Misty because she had hind leg problems. Hundreds and Hundreds of people passed her cage, not even giving her a chance. We went to NY and adopted her immediately. For years Misty became quite a “spokes-dog” for her cause. People started looking at her, seeing the life in her eyes, and the heart she wanted to share and commented on what a wonderful dog she was, and “How could she had been in a shelter so long?”.
After loving our wheelchair dog Duke, and seeing the impact Misty had on people, and realizing there was no support system or education available for people dealing with disabled pets, Pets with Disabilities was incorporated to be that support system for these animals with no voice.
For 8 years, while Mike and I both had full time jobs…. We traveled to events and expos’ to speak on behalf of these wonderful spirits, we set-up a website to post animals needing help, at one point we had 12 disabled animals living in our home – and due to the constant need and 100’s of requests for help, we decided to expand our efforts and build our rescue barn, in order to help more dogs.
In 2004 I made a huge decision to close my small business and volunteer FULL time on behalf of the disabled animals.
With the expansion of the rescue, I committed myself totally to the helping these dogs in need. Many people that visit our website, think we are a huge organization, when in fact, I am a one person show. I take no salary for my hours and hours of work, and have no paid help and a small core group of volunteers. This is a labor of love.
While I’ve spent my fair share of life in a cone, I can’t imagine what it must be like to be blind or missing a leg, how do you help your dog friends manage their disabilities?
Our home, rescue barn and property are all “disabled pet” friendly. We built our home with our pets in mind. We have an area in our home specifically designed for our wheelchair bound dogs, ramps off of our deck to our back yard. We have several acres fenced in for our dogs, so blind, three legged, deaf, wheelchair bound, they all get to enjoy lots of open space to romp and play.
We currently have 5 wheelchair bound dogs that have had wheelchairs custom made for them to make moving around much easier for them.
Do you have any events coming up for party animals feeling frisky?
We will be attending the Perfect Pet Resort Pet Expo on Saturday May 11th from 11am-3pm. They are located in Lothian, MD.
We are also having our Annual “A Toast to Pets With Disabilities” Friday June 14th, 2013 from 6pm-10pm at the Running Hare Vineyard in Prince Frederick Maryland. This is our largest fundraiser for the year, and it is a very fun relaxing event. We will have a wonderful silent auction, music, food & drink, and of course wine tasting! Tickets are on sale if you visit our website www.petswithdisabilities.org
Annually we also have our “Open House’” where we invite the public, donors, volunteers, adopters to our rescue. There is food, drink, a DJ, and the best part is dog friendly dogs are welcome!
How can human friends contact you if they want to volunteer, donate or adopt an amazing animal friend that will change their lives with an increase in love?
We always recommend people visit our website first, you can find most information you may need on our website. It is www.petswithdisabilities.org
You can find our dogs for adoption, and also many courtesy postings of dogs/cats around the country that are looking for homes. Of course all courtesy posts have to have some kind of disability.
People can also email us at petswithdisabilities@comcast.net if they have any questions or want to set up a visit.
Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to answer some questions for our human friends.
