NEADS in the News 2009

Inmates are training puppies to become service dogs
Sara Underwood  10/26/2009  MyFox Boston
CONCORD (FOX25, myfoxboston) - On a quintessential New England farm in Concord, Massachusetts, sits Northeastern Correctional Facility, home to 270 inmates. “The economy went down the drain, lost my job, had a mortgage to pay, robbed a couple of drug dealers,” says Russell Jones an inmate. “I made a mistake in 1997,” says Sergio Torres another inmate. 

Critically ill woman awaits four-legged allys
By Matt Pilon 08/28/2009  Daily Hampshire Gazette
It was not until 2005, when the couple's third child, Heather, who was thought to have cerebral palsy, was at a hospital in Boston that doctors discovered Martin-Coleman's true condition. For some, the disease sets in during adulthood. For others, much sooner. 

Dog being trained to assist the disabled goes to college
By Jane Fusco, Director of RIC News and Public Rel  07/09/2009  Rhode Island College News
Beth Lewis teaches psychology at Rhode Island College. Students in her summer classes have an unusual classmate – a 10-month-old golden retriever named Grace who Lewis is training to become a classroom therapy service dog.

Prison Pups
By Kyra Kirkwood  06/01/2009  dogslifemagazine.com
Death-row dogs across the country are getting a second chance at life from some unusual saviors: prisoners looking to locate their own second chances at a meaningful life. Some incarcerated for a few years, others for the better part of a lifetime, these inmates learn life traits, compassion, communication skills, work ethic, job skills and love as they take unwanted dogs out of shelters and train them to become ideal companions or even service dogs. 

NEADS Public Service Announcement
04/23/2009  Canines for Combat Veterans
This Public Service Announcement describes our Canines for Combat Veterans program that was established at NEADS in 2006 to support returning, wounded Veterans from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. 

2 puppies report for duty at R.I. Veterans Home to be trained to assist disabled vets
By Richard Salit  02/11/2009  Projo.com
BRISTOL — One whimpered and cried. The other promptly relieved himself on the floor. But Labrador puppies Joe and Liberty, new arrivals at the Rhode Island Veterans Home, received the warmest and most anticipated welcome ever.