[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Pages 16848-16849]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                         ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS

                                 ______
                                 

                     HONORING FREEDOM SERVICE DOGS

 Mr. ALLARD. Mr. President, I wish to honor the Freedom Service 
Dogs on the occasion of its 15th anniversary of serving people with 
mobility impairments by providing them with service dogs.
  Freedom Service Dogs was founded by Mike Roche, a Colorado paramedic, 
and P.J. Roche, a dog trainer. They started the service to help 
Colorado citizens be more mobile by training dogs to open doors, turn 
on lights, pull wheelchairs, pick up dropped items, tug clothing on and 
off, and alert for help when needed.
  Not only does Freedom Service Dogs provide people with increased 
confidence and social acceptance, it also saves the lives of hundreds 
of good dogs abandoned in animal shelters by training them to help 
those impaired.
  Freedom Service Dogs is a charitable organization that relies on the 
support of the community to provide free services to those in need.
  I congratulate Freedom Service Dogs for 15 years of service and 
commend this group and the communities that support them for creating a 
model organization that serves the needs of mobility impaired 
Coloradans.

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