Articles/Featured Stories

An archive of select articles and media coverage featuring NEADS, NEADS clients, and NEADS staff.

WebMD: Pets on Planes: Emotional Support or Sham?

December 21, 2017
by Brenda Goodman, MA, WebMD interviews NEADS Director of Development, Cathy Zemaitis, for this article on the important issue of Service Dog fraud. Full Story

Boston Voyager Interview: Meet Gerry DeRoche

December 19, 2017
Boston Voyager writes about the hidden gems of Boston and the surrounding areas. NEADS CEO Gerry DeRoche was interviewed as part of a series of articles featuring interviews with Boston's most inspiring businesses. Full Story

The Boston Globe: Rescue, a very good dog, named country’s best

November 18, 2017
Eric Moskowitz, The Boston Globe: “Rescue, speak,” Jess Kensky said, clutching a treat in her hand as she prepared her service dog Thursday for his big moment at the ASPCA Humane Awards, where he was receiving 2017 Dog of the Year honors. Full Story

US News & World Report: How Service Dogs Help People With MS

October 27, 2017
Heidi Godman, US News and World Report: Service Dogs offer MS patients comfort, companionship and a way to conserve limited energy. Read how Service Dogs can help in this article which includes interviews with NEADS clients and staff. Full Story

Worcester Telegram & Gazette: NEADS dog who aids Marathon bombing survivor gets top ASPCA award

October 23, 2017
by Elaine Thompson, Worcester Telegram & Gazette: A service dog trained by Princeton-based NEADS is the recipient of the ASPCA 2017 Dog of the Year award. The dog, Rescue, provides essential support to Jessica Kensky, who became a double amputee as a result of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing.

Rescue’s assistance for Ms. Kensky includes opening doors, fetching objects, calling for emergency help and many other tasks. At the same time, Rescue also provides Ms. Kensky and her husband, Patrick Downes, with invaluable emotional support and comfort that has helped transform their lives after the tragedy.

ASPCA: NEADS Service Dog Rescue is Recipient of the ASPCA® 2017 Dog of the Year Award

October 20, 2017
ASPCA: Rescue, a Service Dog lending support to a Boston Marathon bombing survivor, joins a brave fifth grader standing up for animals; and a nonprofit rescue group working to assist working military and police K9s as recipients of the ASPCA® 2017 Humane Awards.
Full Story

Pew Charitable Trusts: Tightening the Leash on Fake Service Dogs

October 16, 2017
Michael Ollove, The Pew Charitable Trusts: Incidents like one that occurred in Reading, MA have spurred 19 states to enact laws cracking down on people who try to pass off their pets as service animals. The push has been gathering steam in recent years: Virginia implemented its new law in 2016, and Colorado followed suit this year. Massachusetts is now considering a similar proposal. Full Story

BU Daily Free Press: Proposed state bill cracks down on fake service dogs

September 17, 2017
Shannon Larson, The Daily Free Press, Boston University: It’s typing a quick Google search, filling out a form for false credentials at a small fee and purchasing a “service dog” vest on Amazon, and a household pet is afforded the rights of public access mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Soon, however, this manipulation of federal law could be banned by the state government, with a bill calling for the misrepresentation of a pet dog as a service animal to be a civil offense. Full Story

CBS Boston: Bill Would Penalize People For ‘Fake’ Service Dogs

September 14, 2017
Doug Cope, CBS Boston: Advocates for service dogs for the disabled were at the State House Tuesday, lobbying for a bill that would penalize those who say their animals are service dogs when they're not. KateLynne Steinke of Falmouth and her dog Jones were among those in favor of what's been called the fake service dog bill. Full Story

Parenting Special Needs Magazine: Considering a Service Dog? Meet My Monty

May 17, 2017
Tracey L. Stoll, M.ED., B.C.S.E., A.C.A.S, Parenting Special Needs Magazine: My Monty is a Social Therapy Assistance Dog, specializing in trained social behavior and emotional support. (Please turn to pages 22-28)
Full Story

The Boston Globe: The story of Rescue and Jessica, a dog, a woman, and rebirth

October 27, 2016
Cristela Guerra, The Boston Globe: It brings Jessica Kensky joy to watch her dog run.

At the park, Rescue the black Labrador chases balls down and leaps with athletic abandon.

He came into Kensky 's life six months after the Boston Marathon bombing. Full Story

Worcester Telegram: CEO One on One: Gerry DeRoche

April 26, 2016

Chief Executive Officer, Gerry DeRoche, has been leading NEADS since 2010, when he made the decision to leave a 33-year career in banking for the nonprofit world. The University of Connecticut graduate resides in Concord with his family, which includes two golden retrievers. Full Story

Providence Journal: Handling with care: By training service dogs, ACI inmates help others

February 24, 2015
John Hill, Providence Journal: On Tuesday morning, two dozen inmates filed into the cafeteria at the John J. Moran Medium Security Prison. There were 13 dogs in the room with them.
But the dogs weren’t there to guard the inmates; the inmates were there because they train the dogs.
Full Story

The Boston Globe: Princeton nonprofit sells stuffed marathon service dogs

January 29, 2015
Sacha Pfeiffer, The Boston Globe: In need of a ‘Rescue’? Nonprofits are always on the hunt for new revenue, and some of them dabble in retail to bring in extra money.

Think museum gift shops or online stores selling coffee mugs and note cards. Now NEADS, a Princeton, Mass., nonprofit that trains service dogs, wants to bolster its fledgling retail operation — and, if history repeats itself, the item it’s selling won’t stay in stock for long.

Full Story

The Boston Globe: Her decision, their life

January 25, 2015
Eric Moskowitz, The Boston Globe: They were full with newlywed love that brilliant Marathon Monday, fused in joy and then in disaster. Raked by the blast, Patrick and Jess would both lose their left legs. But Jess, harder hit, has held for two years now against the loss of her right. Everything seemed bound up in that choice.
Full Story

NEADS in the News