One Heart, Four Paws

Please join us for One Heart, Four Paws on Sunday, February 12. This fundraiser will celebrate the human-animal bond with Luis Montalvan, the author of the New York Times bestseller, Until Tuesday. Mr. Montalvan, accompanied by his service dog, Tuesday, will speak about his experiences with a service dog and how his life has been enriched. A book signing will follow.

For more information about Mr. Montalvan, you may visit his website.

StoryTime - Family Series event at the Civic Center of Greater Des Moiens

Civic Center of Greater Des Moines Kids got to pet a Paws & Effect therapy dog while listening to StoryTime with Everybody Wins! Iowa.  — at Civic Center of Greater Des Moines. Smiles!

How do they touch your life?

Paws & Effect service dogs are featured in an article in the Wellness Branch Newsletter for Camp Dodge.

Click here for the complete story.

Another Amazing Pet Partner Workshop

Paws & Effect taught a Pet Partner workshop at St Luke's in Cedar Rapids this weekend.

We continue to be amazed with the number of individuals who want to volunteer with their pets and the way St. Luke's has fully embraced the positive impact these animals can have on those we visit. Thanks to all that attended the workshop and we look forward to a successful evaluation in a few short weeks.

Abilities through Agility

Paws & Effect got a feature article in the January – February 2012 issue of Bark Magazine.

We are thrilled to have our Abilities through Agility program at ChildServe highlighted.

Our volunteers have dedicated nearly 5 years to getting the program to this point. It is amazing what an impact they have had on the children we have had the pleasure to work with (really it's all about the dogs).

We are also extremely excited to see the progress the kids have made over the years.

Click here to read the article.

Making Des Moines More Accessible, One School At A Time

Holiday Training at Jordan Creek

Paws & Effect mobbed Santa for a photo during a training session at Jordan Creek Mall. We had so many dogs in attendence Santa's little helpers couldn't all fit all of them into one picture.

Santa was a good sport about the whole event and he even whispered to me that the dogs were better behaved than most of the kids and that the only thing the dogs wanted was to please their handlers! (that'll be our little secret)

The dogs practiced traversing escalators, being lifted and carried on elevators and walking through a crowded shopping mall.

Thank you to all the puppy raisers that have made 2011 a fantastically successful year.

New Thinking, New Possibilities

Anthem, Valor and Hero with their respective handlers in Times Square.

Greetings from Paws & Effect Moose!

Thanks, Steve, for giving us a glimpse of Moose at American Humane's annual appreciation dinner, A Round of Apaws.

Paws & Effect contributes to the 25th Anniversary of the ACAA!

Paws & Effect has made a concentrated effort to promote accessibility for service dogs. Pretty neat when the Senior Trial Attorney for the US DOT catches a Paws & Effect video and wants to utilize it for an accessibility celebration in Washington DC!

Dear Ms. Shumate:

I am writing from the United States Department of Transportation’s Office of Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings (http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/). In addition to enforcing various consumer rights laws, my office is responsible for enforcing laws and regulations related to non-discrimination in air travel on the basis of disability. The Air Carrier Access Act (ACAA), passed in 1986 (before the ADA), prohibits airlines from discriminating against air travelers on the basis of disability. My office enforces the provisions of the ACAA and its implementing regulation, 14 CFR Part 382. Part 382 is a comprehensive regulatory regime ensuring access to air travel for persons with disabilities. A key part of Part 382 is the requirement that air carriers accommodate individuals who use service animals by allowing their service animals in the cabin of the aircraft.

This year the 25^th anniversary of the ACAA, and the DOT is holding a celebration on November 9^th. Prior the celebration, we would like to show videos related to aircraft accessibility. We found your videos on You Tube where you train animals at the Des Moines Airport (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9CwDc-VQhE&feature=related) and would like to show the videos prior to the celebration as the crowd is gathering. It will not be distributed in any other manner or offered for any type of compensation. It will only be showed several times during a 30 minute time frame while attendees are preparing for the meeting. May we use your videos?

If you or anyone from your organization would be interested in attending the celebration, the invitation is below. Please feel free to forward the email to any other person you feel may be interested in attending.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me. Thank you for your consideration.

Best regards,

Barbara M. Marrin

Senior Trial Attorney

United States Department of Transportation

Office of General Counsel

Aviation Enforcement and Proceedings

Office # W96-466

1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E.

Washington, D.C. 20590

(202) 366-9359 (phone)

(202) 366-7152 (facsimile)