Rick Hairston, President and CEO of Canines for Service has been
appointed to the Board of Directors of Assistance Dogs International North
America.
Mr. Hairston will begin his four year term starting January 2014. With the
service dog industry being only
30-40 years old, the ability to help shape the future and define the standards of
both service dogs and their trainers in the industry is very important.
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| Rick Hairston and his service dog Titus |
Assistance Dogs International (ADI) is a coalition of not for
profit assistance dog organizations. The purpose of ADI is to improve the areas
of training, placement, and utilization of assistance dogs, staff and volunteer
education, as well as educating the public about assistance dogs, and
advocating for the legal rights of people with disabilities partnered
with assistance dogs.
ADI has a comprehensive accreditation system and members have to be
regularly assessed to ensure they meet the high standards expected of
assistance dog programs.
Canines for Service is a non-profit corporation dedicated to empowering
people with disabilities to achieve greater independence. The group trains and
places certified service dogs with the help of volunteer foster families and
military prisoners, provides pet therapy certification classes and helps
children in our community improve their reading skills. . Canines for Service continues to grow
programs within the organization such as the Canines
for Veterans, Canines for Therapy and Canines
for Literacy and the service dog program. Service dogs, valued
at over $40,000 each, assist people with disabilities to regain their
independence with the help of the quality trained dogs that can complete over
350 tasks. Since
its inception in 1996, Canines for Service has provided over $8 million in
services to our community. For more information, call 910-362-8181 or visit www.caninesforservice.org.
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