Sweet Netta Saggese suffers from developmental delays, epilepsy and is non-verbal as a result of a brain malformation at birth. The Saggese's have applied for a service dog in the past, but were denied. The number of applications far outweighs the number of available dogs annually. In addition, Matt has severe dog allergies so a hypoallergenic dog is preferred. Sadly these dogs are in high demand and are often purchased by private buyers before they are available to the general public. Linzey Zoccola, Director of Of Phoenix Assistance Dogs, heard Netta's story and graciously agreed to begin training a labradoodle puppy to be placed with Netta next year! If you haven't already, please check out Linzey's story on the padcentral.org website. She is quite an inspiration!
Having a service dog would help the Saggese family by serving as an emotional support companion as well as having the ability to alert Matt and Annetta when Netta is showing signs of seizure activity. The cost of training these dogs is between $20,000 - $30,000. Phoenix Assistance Dogs (padcentral.org), that is currently training a dog for Netta, offsets the cost to their clients by doing their own fundraising. As such amazingly they only charge $1000 for the dogs! Along with the $1000 we would like to raise additional funds to help cover the cost of a week in Pennsylvania for Matt and Annetta to be trained in handling the dog. We are setting a goal of $3000.  Additional money could be used to help with the cost of vetting the dog as well.  This family is truly amazing!!