By CLARE MARIE CELANO
Correspondent
Assistance animals —service animals— have jobs just like people do.
They aid those who cannot see, are hearing impaired, have anxiety issues or any number of other disabilities or conditions.
Some assistance animals, such as those placed by The Seeing Eye have been trained by instructors to guide blind people. Others, such as therapy dogs, provide comfort to others. Emotional support animals provide comfort to others as part of their everyday life.
And those who raise these specialized animals are happy to be part of a process that allows those with disabilities to regain some independence in their lives. And those who handle these animals believe the dogs are happy doing what they’ve been taught to do — assist others.
These animals are honored in the month of September, which is National Service Dog Month.
Puppy raisers for The Seeing Eye keep their charges for about a year and a half, teaching them basic commands and socialization before they are returned to The Seeing Eye for training and to be matched up with a blind individual in need.
Michelle Barlak, a public relations specialist with The Seeing Eye, explained the three types of dogs that are trained to help people.
“The first type, assistance (or service) animals, is defined under the ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) as dogs individually trained to do work or perform tasks for their owner who has a disability. Their right to enter public places is guaranteed by the ADA,” said Barlak.
“The second type is therapy dogs, specially certified to provide comfort to others (not their owners), but not trained to perform special tasks for people who are disabled. They may enter public places that do not normally allow pets, but only when invited to perform therapy work.
“The third type is an emotional support animal (ESA), which provides emotional support and comfort to their owners. They are not trained to perform special tasks to help people with disabilities nor granted access to public places that do not normally allow pets under the ADA. However, the Air Carrier Access Act and the Fair Housing Act both grant ESAs the right to fly on airplanes and live in housing that may not ordinarily be pet-friendly.”
The Seeing Eye is a philanthropic organization whose mission is to enhance the independence, dignity and self-confidence of blind people through the use of seeing eye dogs, according to Barlak.
Barlak said in addition to breeding, raising and training dogs to guide people who are blind, the organization also instructs the recipients of the dogs in the care and proper use of those dogs.
“We estimate the cost to make one partnership between the person and the dog over a lifetime of partnership to be approximately $60,000. This includes everything from birth and all follow-up services until the dog retires,” she added.
That cost also includes housing and accommodations for the person who is blind to stay at the Morristown campus for four weeks while they train and bond with their new dog.
Christine Higham works as the Toms River area coordinator, including Central and South Jersey, for The Seeing Eye Puppy Development. She grew up in a puppy-raising family. The family is now raising its 40th puppy.
It started with Higham’s parents, Barbara and Edward Semanchik, 41 years ago. Higham and her five brothers are all involved in puppy raising.
“My mom is an Ocean County Seeing Eye 4H Club Leader and we co-raise the puppies together,” Higham said. “It’s a family project. When I moved out we continued co-raising puppies together.”
Higham’s daughter Marissa, 18, also co-raises the puppies now.
“It’s become a way of life for us,” Higham said. “I don’t know life any other way.”
Currently, Higham is currently co-raising “Bonnie,” an 11-month-old Yellow Labrador.
“We get the puppies at seven weeks old and then return them between 13 and 15 months,” Higham said, adding that puppy raising has become a passion for her.
“Having dogs makes you happy. I can’t imagine life not being around dogs. I love working with them,” she said. “They bring so much happiness to your life, and the added bonus is working with them and handing them over to go on to hopefully help someone else.”
Higham said letting go of the puppies is difficult, but anticipated.
“We say goodbye for the last time, give them a hug and they go back to The Seeing Eye. Since I work in the field, I’m the person that delivers puppies and takes them away from families. I get to see the see full spectrum of emotions. Puppy raisers are excited when they get them and sad when they must give them up. Everyone handles it differently,” she said, adding, “We’re emotional about it.”
“You have mixed feelings. You’re sad. You will miss them. They are such a part of your family. But, you are also very proud of them and you know that when they go through training and are matched with a blind individual you know the dog you’ve prepared will continue with that new person. What a great life for them to go out and travel and be with them. That’s what they enjoy.”
When Kathy Wilson of Freehold Borough retired from her job as a social worker, she needed something to give her more purpose. She found that “something” through volunteering with her eight-year-old rescue dog, “Lily,” a friendly dog who loves people and animals and is very calm.
“I thought Lily and I would make a good team helping people and working with kids. It was an opportunity to meet people and work with kids, which I love,” Wilson said.
Wilson enrolled Lily in the Pet Therapy Program at the Monmouth County SPCA where the two trained with an experienced team. Lily has Canine Good Citizenship Certification and has been a therapy dog for four years.
Lily works two programs: “Read to the Dog” at Freehold Borough Library, East Main Street, which has young children reading to Lily, and “It’s Cool to Be Kind,” a presentation in schools on animal compassion, care and interaction with a therapy dog after the presentation.
“In a ‘Read to the Dog’ program, a mother of a second grader told me her son rarely spoke in class. His teacher told his mom he raised his hand to read aloud for the first time, and an autistic little girl who never left the teacher’s aide slowly approached Lily to pet her all by herself. Sometimes, when we are out walking, kids in town will recognize Lily and approach her the correct way they were taught in the ‘It’s Cool to Be Kind’ program saying, ‘Hey Lily, remember me?’”
In addition to basic commands, such as sit, down, stay, come, heel and leave it, Lily has also had temperament evaluation, exposure to loud noises, sudden movement and other animals, dogs, cats and people of all ages as well as touching various medical equipment she may be exposed to while working.
The program also includes visits to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, special-needs schools, hospitals or centers for disabled/challenged children and adults and other similar venues.
“I think Lily is a natural therapy dog,” Wilson said. “When I put on her vest, she wags her tail and does a little dance, and I swear I see a little smile. She loves what she does.”