NEADS held its 77th Graduation in April at Monty Tech to celebrate its newest Service Dog teams.

This spring’s graduating class represents a wide range of NEADS Service Dogs, including Service Dogs for Veterans, Service Dogs for individuals with physical disabilities, Service Dogs for Hearing, and Assistance Dogs for professionals in classroom, ministry, and hospital settings. Graduating teams shared their personal, often moving, stories of how having a Service Dog has affected their lives in the months since they completed training. 

SPIRIT AWARD. Each spring, NEADS presents its Spirit Award to a volunteer or group of volunteers who passionately exudes the energy, values, and commitment to our mission over an extended period of time. The 2019 Spirit Award went to the nearly 50 voluntary veterinary professionals who donate goods and services to NEADS. The award was accepted on behalf of the recipients by guest speaker Dr. Trish Dettlinger, who helped develop the NEADS Prison PUP Program at the Northeastern Correctional Center in Concord, MA and was also instrumental in developing a partnership between NEADS and VCA, where she is currently an Area Medical Director. “I am privileged and honored to accept this award on behalf of the exceptional veterinarians who volunteer for this truly amazing program,” said Dr. Dettlinger. “It is incredibly rewarding to work with NEADS. I can say with utmost certainty that the joy, gratification, and comfort I personally have received from working with this program has far surpassed any service I have provided to NEADS.”

Congratulations to all our graduating teams, and thank you to all who came to support them. Graduation was live-streamed via Facebook; watch the video here.