Sophie Mullins has an important decision to make — will she name her puppy Peaches or Lucy?
The Mullins family has successfully raised the nearly $10,000 they needed to purchase their daughter a diabetic alert dog.
And they did it in less than three days after their story went public.
Words like “happy” and “excited” don’t do their true feelings justice, laughed Heidi Pavelka, Sophie’s mom.
“It’s just been on our mind constantly. … Now we can just sit back and wait for our dog to get here, instead of thinking about how we are going to come up with the money,” said Pavelka.
The Telegram ran a story on Monday about the Mullins family and their efforts to raise $25,000 to pay for a highly trained dog to help Sophie monitor her condition. Over the past year, they raised $15,000 towards their goal.
The three-year-old Paradise resident has Type 1 diabetes and must have her blood sugar levels checked at least 12 times a day.
Diabetic alert dogs are service animals trained to monitor a diabetic’s blood sugar levels via their acute sense of smell.
The dogs are sensitized to detect when their masters’ blood sugar gets dangerously high or low, and send out a warning signal like a bark or special trick. If they can’t get anyone’s attention they are also trained to hit a panic button that will call 911.
The Mullins family first heard about these dogs about a year ago and have been raising money to get one for Sophie ever since.
They are getting their dog through Warren Retrievers, based out of Orange, Va. That company’s associated non-profit organization is Guardian Angel Service Dogs.
The actual cost of training a dog is about $40,000, but that price tag is reduced significantly through the non-profit group.
Any family that wants a dog pays a $1,000 down payment to get on a puppy waiting list. The family gets their dog when their turn comes up on the list. They then have three years to raise their share of the costs.
Pavelka admits she was worried they would not have been able to raise all the money in time, which makes her thanks all the more sincere.
“I would like to say that we’re overwhelmed by all the positive — I don’t even know what to say, it’s so overwhelming,” she said.
“Newfoundlanders really live up to their reputation of generosity.”
Pavelka maintains a blog to keep friends and family updated on their fundraising efforts, www.paws4sophie.doodlekit.com.
A lot of people donated through that website, she said.
“We’ve had people reaching out from everywhere.”
But one person in particular took a liking to Sophie’s story.
The benefactor, who wishes to remain anonymous in the media, contacted the family and offered to completely top off the remaining amount of their goal.
“We kind of thought it was a joke, to be honest. We didn’t think anybody would be that kind,” she said.
But it was no joke.
Pavelka, out of respect for the donor’s wishes, declined to comment on a dollar figure — but she stressed it was a significant donation.
“He just said the story touched his heart,” she said.
“He came right to the house and wrote a cheque.”
Anyone who would still like to contribute to Sophie’s dog costs can still do so.
The animal is paid for, but the same company offers medical insurance for the dogs. The animal is automatically covered for any genetic defects, but things like a broken limb requires an additional policy.
Anyone who’d like to contribute to that fund can donate online at www.guardianangelservicedogs.org. Donors should indicate that the intended recipients of the money are Sophie Mullins and her dog.
Now that the question of money is out of the way, the Mullins family can concentrate on preparing for the newest addition to their household. They’re scheduled to get their puppy sometime between the end of November and the end of January.
Training it properly will take nearly two years.
Sophie is oblivious to the fundraising efforts, said Pavelka, but she’s been aware for some time that she’s getting a puppy, so she’s more than a little excited.
“She just wants a dog. She doesn’t really even understand what the dog’s for,” she laughed.
“But when she sees us up here dancing around the house because we’re done — she gets pretty excited too.”
cmaclean@thetelegram.com
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You probably find the bad in kids trick or treating at Halloween, and hunting for eggs at Easter.