As the region continues to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, nonprofit organization Canine Support Teams (CST) visited local hospitals to share a message of gratitude with doctors, nurses, and frontline healthcare workers.
Stella, an active service dog, Benjamin, Pickles, Carter, Eclipse, and Raven, all service-dogs-in-training, along with their handlers and trainers, visited with staff at Loma Linda University Medical Center in Loma Linda, CA, and delivered “paw-made” greeting cards to distribute to emergency care workers.
In late March, Canine Support Teams temporarily closed their training facility to comply with social distancing. The organization acted quickly to provide virtual training sessions to volunteers raising puppies at home and took in dogs who had recently completed advanced training in the Prison Pups program but could not yet go home with their new handlers.
Moved by the bravery and dedication of the region’s healthcare workers, and looking for creative ways to keep dogs engaged while in quarantine, a group of CST staff and volunteers had the idea to put their dogs to work—with arts and crafts!
With the help of volunteer puppy raisers and inmate trainers at California Institute for Men, where CST hosts a first-of-its-kind prison-based advanced training program, future service dogs stamped their paw prints onto homemade cards which were turned into beautiful artwork for the first responders.
“We wanted to send a heartfelt thank you to all of the essential frontline workers helping our community stay safe during COVID-19,” says Carol Roquemore, founder and CEO of Canine Support Teams. “Our volunteers, staff, and pups came together to create these unique cards to hopefully put a smile on the faces of those working so hard to fight this pandemic.”
Canine Support Teams re-opened their facility in late June with strict social distancing and cleaning protocols in place. Despites challenges and increased financial need caused by the COVID crisis, CST is committed to its mission of providing service dogs to those in need, including veterans and other clients who are navigating visible and invisible disabilities, such as PTSD.