The idea came to me when I realised how many people service dogs can help. The foundation works to find, guide and train dogs to be service dogs to the hearing impaired, autistic individuals, people who are wheelchair bound and persons who need alerting for conditions such as diabetes. A service dog can help these people lead an independent life.
Through the Service Dogs Malta Foundation I want to give a better quality of life to people living with a disability.
Being part of the Service Dogs Malta Foundation gives me the opportunity to witness the special bond that exists between dogs and people. Watching the trainer develop a dog’s skills to a point where the dog is able to significantly change a vulnerable person’s life is especially heart warming and I am happy to be able to contribute to this process in any way I can.
It is a privilege for me to form part of the Service Dogs Malta Foundation team. I will be using my experience and knowledge of working with persons with disability to ensure that service users of the Foundation get the best possible support through the effective deployment of our service dogs.
Years of working with dogs and continuous studies to improve my understanding of dog behaviour, nutrition and training techniques led me to wanting to make this my career. Nothing comes easy but with a little motivation and the thought that this is not just a job but a mission to help others gave me fuel to carry on. This is just the beginning. There is still much to learn and do and many people to support.
When my family and I fostered a Labrador for the Malta Service Dogs Foundation in 2020 and 2021 it gave us the opportunity to see first-hand what the Foundation is able to deliver. So, when I was offered the role of administrator within the Foundation I was happy to take it up, not only because voluntary work has always been close to my heart but also because it means that I am able to help families benefit from the services offered by the Foundation.
To help people with a condition or a disability by providing them with a service dog that has been trained to overcome some of the difficulties they face on a day-to-day basis.
To ensure that no person who could potentially benefit from a service dog is left without one.