[Njagdu] Assistance Animal Recognition Day' Honors Working Dogs

[Ginger Kutsch]

Assistance Animal Recognition Day' Honors Working Dogs 

Animals and Pets - West Deptford, NJ Patch

Posted by Matt Skoufalos 

http://westdeptford.patch.com/groups/animals-and-pets/p/assistance-animal-re
cognition-day-honors-working-dogs

(comments from some of the attendees is included on the page at the above
link)

Assistance animals help Americans with disabilities from blindness to PTSD.
Credit: Matt Skoufalos.

 

When U.S. Army Sgt. Charles Hernandez came home from Iraq, returning to
civilian life was more difficult than he'd expected.

 

His dreams were often troubled. He describes the feeling of "finding
yourself out there for a minute, and a minute too long."

 

"[Things were] difficult enough to lose my family," Hernandez said.

 

But three years ago, the retired veteran was partnered up with Valor, a
lab-mastiff-mix service dog, and things started to change. 

 

"At night he lets me know; he puts his face on the bed to let me know I'm
having my nightmares," Hernandez said. "He lets me know I'm home. He'll come
up to me and push me and let me know.

 

"Sometimes they do things that you don't even know you're doing," he said.
"If it's in your body, they know."

 

Hernandez and Valor were just one of the human-working dog pairs to be
honored at Assistance Animal Recognition Day on Wednesday, as N.J. State
Senator Donald Norcross and N.J. Assemblyman Angel Fuentes hosted a day of
proclamations at the Sewell campus of Gloucester County College.

 

Leah Levine, whose group Animals at Work advocates for greater accessibility
for service animals, also was there with her working dog, Linus.

 

Linus knows 100 different commands, Levine said, and helps her overcome
balance issues from her battle with multiple sclerosis.

 

"These dogs are our medical equipment, but it's really the civil rights of
the person with the disability that we're trying to protect," Levine said.

 

"It's great for all of the individuals whose lives are improved on a
day-to-day basis because they have a service animal by their side," said
James Kutsch, President and CEO of The Seeing Eye, which for years has
trained dogs who work with blind persons.

 

Decades of advocacy have allowed Kutsch into many more places with his
working dog, Vegas, over the years, he said. But he still faces occasional
denials of access to restaurants or public transportation, which is
frustrating.

 

Almost as big of an issue for his safety, Kutsch said, is that loose dogs or
negligent owners can just as easily create problems for the tandem simply by
not paying attention.

 

"I think the biggest thing the general public can do is just be aware,"
Kutsch said.

 

Kutsch, Levine and Hernandez were hopeful that the proclamations issued
Wednesday would lead to greater public awareness of the role that service
animals play in the lives of people with all manner of disabilities.

 

"No one should be turned away because they utilize assistance animals," said
Norcross in a statement. "People aren't informed about the importance of
this partnership. That's what today is about."

 

 

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