Help Shiree get a new life saving service dog!

Hi, my name is Siobhan, and I am Kevin and Shiree’s daughter. Sadly, my mom recently lost her companion, best friend, and diabetic alert service dog, Shelby. Shelby was an amazing blessing.

A brief history for those not aware, my mom is a proud retired US Marine Corps veteran, who unfortunately is one of the Camp Lejeune poisoned water Marines. Because of that, she has 8 autoimmune diseases, one of which, is Diabetes Type 2. The diabetes has led to her having stage 3 kidney disease. Due to all the autoimmune problems and kidney failure, she has been in and out of the hospital countless times (and we scarily almost lost her a few of those times).

When we first got Shelby for her back in 2010, she was intended to be her companion for her PTSD, but we quickly realized that Shelby had a special skill. She started alerting my mom when her blood sugar became too high or too low. After testing and certification, Shelby became my mom’s official diabetic alert service dog. Since Shelby came into her life, my mom has only been hospitalized a few times for other illnesses outside of her diabetes and kidney disease. Shelby had literally saved my mom’s life on a regular basis.

It is a necessity that my mom has a diabetic alert service dog, because they can alert my mom well before and better than any sensor can. This will allow her kidneys to keep functioning correctly and not progress to stage 4 (which means dialysis). Unfortunately, the total cost for a puppy candidate to become a fully certified Diabetic Alert and PTSD Service Dog will be a minimum of $35,000, which includes the puppy, testing, vigorous training, certifications, travel, and fees.

Both of my parents have been doing a lot of research into finding the right breeder and service dog trainer. They will be visiting with them at the beginning of September to meet the puppy candidates for a possible fit.

Anything anyone can donate would be greatly appreciated and would go a long way towards helping us get my mom a new life-saving service pup.