Service animals, most commonly dogs, are specially trained to assist disabled individuals with their everyday lives.
By Tyler Poda
Disciplined, compassionate and intelligent, service animals are a common part of everyday life for many disabled United States citizens. The Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 established guidelines that prevent businesses, government agencies and other organizations from specifically prohibiting service dogs on their premises.
Service animals, most commonly dogs, are specially trained to assist disabled individuals with their everyday lives. Service dogs can be trained to guide the blind, signal the hearing impaired or warn an epileptic person of an impending seizure, among other duties.
Yellow Caped Raiders is a student organization partnered with Canine Companions for Independence to raise service dogs and educate the public about service dog etiquette. Viktoria Haynes, a student organization representative for the Yellow Caped Raiders, said the idea for the organization started last semester but did not get approval to be on campus until September.
“Our purpose is to raise dogs for Canine Companions for Independence,” Haynes said. “Along with that we educate the public and the Texas Tech campus on service dog etiquette and how to behave around them.”
CCI, a non-profit organization, pairs service dogs with children, adults and veterans with disabilities. Julie Wilson, secretary of the West Texas volunteer chapter of CCI, said the group supports Yellow Caped Raiders by teaching dog training techniques, providing equipment and other means.
The relationship with the Yellow Caped Raiders has been very beneficial for CCI, she said.
Disciplined, compassionate and intelligent, service animals are a common part of everyday life for many disabled United States citizens. Service animals, most commonly dogs, are specially trained to assist disabled individuals in their day-to-day tasks.
“The current officers are wonderful,” Wilson said. “They’ve got a lot of vision an excitement for the mission of the parent organization.”
That mission is to provide highly trained service dogs to people with various disabilities, she said. CCI has been providing dogs to people with 65 different disabilities since 1975 making them the oldest service dog providing organization in the United States according to Wilson.
Haynes said it was important for the Yellow Caped Raiders to receive permission from Texas Tech to have their dogs on campus, where most of their time is spent. Hayes went on to say it is beneficial for the dogs to be exposed to any and all situations in which their owner might need them.
“A professor could have a dog or just someone who needs to feel comfortable in a room with 300 people,” she said. “So, it’s important to be able to expose the dogs to that.”
Julie Wilson, secretary of the West Texas volunteer chapter of CCI, said the group’s mission is to provide highly trained service dogs to people with various disabilities.
However, Yellow Caped Raiders is not just an organization for people wanting to raise service dogs, Haynes said. Any individuals with a passion for animals or helping disadvantaged people can become involved.
CCI is always looking for more puppy raisers, Wilson said. She is available to answer questions about the organization at her email, jrw121@mac.com, and encourages interested individuals to fill out an application at www.cci.org.
“One of our biggest needs as an organization is people that are willing to raise a puppy,” Wilson said.
About Reece Nations, Managing Editor
