Couple hopes donors will sit

and roll over funds to help

local assistance dog efforts
By Frank Ruggiero
ruggiero@wataugademocrat.com

When it comes to seeking community support, Jim and Sue Taylor are barking up the right tree.

As puppy trainers and board members with New Life Mobility Assistance Dogs (NLMAD), the two are seeking to raise funds for the Wilkes-based nonprofit organization and would even walk 500 miles to accomplish their goal.

NLMAD pairs people with disabilities with specially-trained dogs, who help them with day-to-day tasks and other activities that are often taken for granted.

The dogs also stand to benefit, as most of them are rescued from area animal shelters and paired with friends they’ll have for life.

But training does not come cheap, with the cost averaging $10,000 a dog — a price that those who need help most may not be able to afford.

And as a nonprofit organization, NLMAD relies on donations.

With the economy on a tight leash, the Taylors – acknowledging that charitable giving has dropped dramatically – plan to take matters into their own hands. They’ll take a hike.

But this hike is somewhat greater than most, as the Taylors will make a pilgrimage down the Camino de Santiago in Spain, starting in May. The Camino de Santiago, translated in English as “the Way of St. James,” is a 500-mile path, stretching from the Pyrenees in the north to the western city of Santiago de Compostela, home to the burial place of St. James.

Since the 11th century, literally millions of pilgrims have walked the Camino, including such historical names as Charlemagne and St. Francis of Assisi. Along with passages to Rome and Jerusalem, the Camino is considered one of the most popular Christian pilgrimage trails in history.

Throughout the centuries, towns and cities located along the Camino have established hostels and accommodations for pilgrims, and the Taylors plan to make use of those arrangements, while immersing themselves in the Spanish culture. While hiking, they expect to encounter fellow pilgrims, to whom they’ll say, “Ultreya,” which is an old Camino phrase that translates as “Go forth with courage.”

The Taylors plan to make the trip in 40 days, and they’re accepting pledges for every mile they walk on the Camino. “We’re walking for those who cannot walk,” Sue Taylor said.

Watauga County Sheriff Len Hagaman and his wife, Ruth, were the first to pledge for the cause, offering 40 cents per mile ($200 with the total 500). After visiting the Taylors at their Deep Gap home one day, the sheriff learned of NLMAD. On his second visit, a training dog named Phoebe offered Hagaman quite the enthusiastic welcome by leaping into his car.

Though not looking for a new K-9 unit at the time, Hagaman welcomed Phoebe’s enthusiasm and realized how much good the program could accomplish. “It’s very important for these folks that need these services,” he said.

“They’re truly dedicated to their cause,” Ruth Hagaman said of the Taylors, to which her husband added, “And their compassion for the dogs is just amazing.”

The Taylors have worked with NLMAD since 2000, when they responded to an advertisement seeking puppy trainers. The organization was originally founded in the late 1990s by Wilkesboro resident Karen Brown, who, in 1985, was diagnosed with limp-girdle muscular dystrophy.

Throughout those years, Brown could feel her strength and independence waning, until 1993, when she was accepted into Independence Dogs Inc., an assistance dog training program for people with disabilities.

Brown was matched with a collie named Ozzie, who became her inseparable companion. They would go on mile-long walks, with Ozzie pulling her wheelchair, and, when Brown was thirsty, Ozzie would open the refrigerator and bring her a soda.

In 1996, Brown joined the Wilkes County Humane Society, and she observed an unsettling lack of pet adoptions and rescues.

While the Humane Society was doing its part to save the animals’ lives, Brown stepped up to do her own. She developed NLMAD.

To help the Taylors accomplish their mission, mail pledges to NLMAD, P.O. Box 659, Moravian Falls, N.C. 28654, or call (336) 838-2215.
For more information on NLMAD, visit www.nlmad.org on the Web.