By Cara Conway
Gerald R. Ford International Airport
More than a dozen Paws With A Cause® Foster Puppies and their raisers will be visiting the Gerald R. Ford International Airport for a unique training experience.
PAWS® puppies in training and their volunteer foster puppy raisers will get the chance to go through TSA security screening, walk through the airport, and even board an aircraft, thanks to Allegiant Air on Feb. 11, at 11 a.m.
A PAWS Assistance Dog helps a person with a disability to complete essential tasks. By helping to open doors, pick up objects, pull a wheelchair, or alert them to sounds, barriers are overcome. PAWS Assistance Dogs are covered under the ADA, which requires that they are allowed in any public spaces, including airports and airplanes.
“We place Assistance Dogs all over the country, so exposing our dogs to the airport and planes when they are young is so important,” said the PAWS Training Team. “We want to prepare our dogs to work in environments of multiple varying distractions. It is very likely that these dogs will have to fly at some point in their life, and we want them to be comfortable doing so.”
“We know the great work PAWS Dogs do in our community and we are happy to facilitate this unique training opportunity,” said Tory Richardson, President & CEO at the Gerald R. Ford International Airport. “We are grateful to our partners at Allegiant for allowing the dogs and trainees on their aircraft, and we look forward to seeing these working dogs assisting those in need in the future.”
