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03
Feb
2022

Purina Donates $20,000 to Help Equip the New Susquehanna Service Dogs Training Center

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Purina-SSD check presentationSusquehanna Service Dogs received a $20,000 donation from Nestlé Purina PetCare Company to help equip the new training center in Grantville, PA. Set to open in the spring, the new training center will provide an accessible environment and customized spaces for experienced working teams, new partners, volunteers, and dog trainers.

The new center will be over 13,000 square feet and is designed with sound attenuation and careful attention to lighting to better serve partners with autism, PTSD, and seizure disorders. It also includes 24 kennel runs, doubling the number of kennel runs currently, as well as indoor and outdoor space for the dogs in training—all carefully planned to reduce kennel stress and promote the physical and emotional health of the dogs.

Ultimately, this new training center will increase the likelihood of more successful assistance dogs and allow SSD to accommodate more people on the waiting list within a shorter amount of time.

“In all of our communities, Purina is proud to support programs and organizations that share our belief that pets and people are better together,” said Angela Broadrick, Purina factory manager in Mechanicsburg, PA. “Susquehanna Service Dogs has made a big impact in our region for a long time and we look forward to seeing how the new training center will enhance their efforts to provide suitable assistance dogs for those in need.”

This donation has been granted through the Nestlé Purina Trust Fund, established by Purina founder William H. Danforth to provide critical support to important community causes. The company is investing more than $1 million in its communities this year through several capital and capacity-building grants to support local nonprofit organizations. Over the past five years, Purina has contributed more than $150 million toward organizations that bring, and keep, people and pets together, as well as those that help our communities and environment thrive.

“It takes a community to raise, train, and place assistance dogs, and we’re pleased to partner with Purina to equip the new training center,” said Charles Hooker, President and CEO of Keystone Human Services. “Ultimately, we’re working together to change lives and create more inclusive communities.”

A program of Keystone Human Services, Susquehanna Service Dogs has been breeding, raising, training, and placing assistance dogs, hearing dogs, and facility dogs in the Mid-Atlantic Region since 1993. SSD has placed over 350 assistance dogs, giving children and adults independence and confidence to do things they never thought were possible.

Read the press release from Purina