The Ear Falls Lions Club held its 11th annual Walk for Dog Guides last weekend.
This year the fundraiser raised $5,504 to be donated to the dog guides program. $915 was raised on the day of the walk and $4589 was raised online. The money is used for dog guides to be bred, trained and then provided to people with disabilities at no cost to them.
Lions club member Tim Neidenbach was the top fundraiser with $2000, and Olivia Williamson was the top student fundraiser with $375.
“It’s a pretty good amount raised for our small town,” says Ear Falls Lions Club President Joanne Kay.
Twenty-five people attended this years’ walk with 15 dogs.
Dog guides are trained to support people with disabilities in their daily lives. The Lions Foundation of Canada train dogs for people with vision impairments, hearing impairments, physical disabilities, autism, diabetes, seizures, and post-traumatic stress.
The Kay family have a personal connection with the dog guides program, as their son Matthew had his own service dog. They got their dog, Secret, in 2011 when Matthew was five years old.
Joanne Kay and her husband Bill learned about the dog guides program a few months following their son’s diagnosis from a former Lions club member, Earl Keller in 2010.
Secret was the inspiration for starting the Walk for Dog Guides in Ear Falls.
“Secret made a huge impact on our lives and she will be sorely missed,” says Kay.
Secret was a black Labrador that was trained to help Matthew who has Autism. Her training was to be tethered to Matthew to prevent him from running away.
Secret and Matthew would go everywhere together, she even went to school with him from grades 5 through 8. As he started high school, Matthew and his parents decided that he no longer needed her to accompany him to school.
Secret passed away over last September after 12 years with the Kay family. She worked actively as Matthew’s service dog for 11 years, and was retired from duty thereafter. The Kay’s then chose to officially adopt Secret from the program.
The Kay’s had the option to get another service dog and Joanne said they would do it again in a heartbeat; however, Matthew is now 18 years old and wouldn’t benefit from another dog guide as much as when he was 5. The wait lists are quite long for new applicants as it is, due to the large need for dog guides across Canada.
This year Joanne brought their new family puppy, three-month-old Digby to join the walk. Digby was bred locally and is not going to be a service dog. Digby was even joined on the walk with her litter mate Connie.
“She’s not going to replace Secret in any capacity, but she’s a cutie pie and so fun to play with,” says Kay.
She even brought her new puppy Digby into the Ear Falls Public School (EFPS) to do a presentation for the grades 2,3 and 4 kids about the dog guides program.
Ear Falls Public School vice principal Kylie Sutton has been a long-time supporter of the Walk for Dog Guides, and attended the walk with her dog Jake. Sutton raises money each year for the walk and helps the students participate in the fundraising as well.
Joanne’s connection to the Walk for Dog Guides remains even after Secret’s passing. She plans to continue holding the annual Walk for Dog Guides with Digby at her side.
“We will continue on in her memory, and hopefully Digby will be around for 10 more of our annual walks,” says Kay.
