Top photo – Darrell and Toby
HOPE HULL, AL – Service Dogs Alabama (SDA) is a non-profit organization serving people with disabilities. They recently announced their member accreditation by Assistance Dogs International (ADI). ADI is the worldwide authority that sets the gold standards for training and placing service and facility dogs. ADI is a coalition of non-profit programs from around the world that train and place service dogs and is the leading authority in the industry. ADI objectives are to establish and promote standards of excellence in all areas of service dog acquisition, training, and partnership, facilitate communication and learning among member programs, and educate the public to the benefits of service dogs and ADI membership.
Service dog organizations that pass ADI’s two-year accreditation process become ADI Accredited Members and are assessed every five years to ensure they continue to meet the highest standards in the industry. “We have been updating records and implementing training and safety methods to meet ADI standards. It is a long and arduous process requiring documentation of every detail of a dog’s breeding, training, evaluation, and placement,” said Frances McGowin, SDA Executive Director. “Becoming an accredited member of ADI is the next step in the growth of our program.”
Members of ADI meet regularly to share ideas and conduct business regarding educating the public about assistance dogs, advocating for the legal rights of people with disabilities partnered with assistance dogs, and the setting of standards and establishing guidelines and ethics for the training of these dogs.
As the oldest and largest non-profit organization in Alabama serving both veterans and children with disabilities, SDA is dedicated to providing medical and psychological assistance dogs to children, adults, and veterans with disabilities, as well as Facility Intervention Dogs for schools and courtrooms. SDA has developed a 43-acre state-of-the-art training campus in Hope Hull, AL (Guice Slawson Training Complex), built an additional office and kennel facility in North Alabama, created a prison-based dog training initiative, and will soon open an office in Alabama’s Bay/Gulf area.
Skilled service dogs have a powerful effect on the independence, confidence, security, physical health, and psychological stability of the individuals and groups that they serve. SDA’s dogs are trained for a variety of needs including seizure alert, diabetic alert, mobility, wheelchair assistance and multiple intervention tasks for Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Autism, as well as school and courtroom intervention dogs. Over 85 dogs have been placed with qualified individuals/facilities throughout the State of Alabama.
To learn more about Service Dogs Alabama or to support our mission, please visit www.ServiceDogsAlabama.org.
For additional information about Assistance Dogs International: https://assistancedogsinternational.org/
