The proceeds funded service animals for veterans with PTSD
By RORY CONLON — city@theaggie.org
Sudwerk Brewery hosted a Veterans Day dog fashion show in partnership with Dogtopia of Davis, an organization that funds service animals for veterans, on Nov. 10.
On the way into the fashion show, attendees could give information about their dogs, including their breed, age and personality. Amy Leslie, a fifth-year Ph.D. student on the plant biology track, entered Bean, their five-year-old German Shepherd, into the show.
“I dressed him up in a tuxedo,” Leslie said. “I’m actually reusing it from my engagement party earlier this year.”
Leslie said that the name “Bean” came right after they brought him home from the shelter.
“He looked like a little bean when I got him from the shelter,” Leslie said. “He was 10 pounds then. He’s 110 pounds now.”
Bean was 1 in 10 dogs who competed in the fashion show, showing off their outfits for a panel of three judges and an audience of 50. Other costumes included: a Doberman Pinscher dressed as a Christmas dinosaur; an English Springer Spaniel wearing a checkered detective coat and hat and a husky wearing a red flower neck scarf.
Caitlin McSorley, the assistant general manager of Sudwerk, said she organized the fashion show in collaboration with members of Dogtopia, a local dog daycare with a non-profit foundation attached to it.
“We’ve done previous events with local dog charities and animal groups,” McSorley said. “Last year, we did an event with the [American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals] ASPCA that was really similar. I thought the tie-in of Dogtopia providing service dogs for veterans was the perfect crossover.”
McSorley also recognized the positive impact service dogs can have on veterans in need of support.
“If people have physical disabilities, that’s definitely a help,” McSorley said. “Also, if people have PTSD, it can be super helpful to have a dog that can comfort and provide them with security by smelling for explosives or clearing rooms for them to make sure that’s safe. There’s that psychological aspect to it as well.”
While another organization purchases the dogs, Dogtopia pays $6,000 to train them so that they can assist veterans. Since its opening in July 2023, they have successfully trained one service dog for a veteran living in Santa Rosa.
At the event, Dogtopia owner Cindy Hespe raffled off tickets to raise money to train a second dog for a veteran in need. Hespe said she wanted to use the non-profit branch of her organization to support veterans after seeing how they struggled to readjust to civilian life.
“My husband and I met one veteran who had been a ranger for five years, where he was going out in Afghanistan and Iraq to make sure the path was clear before they went out,” Hespe said. “For five years, he was wired to look for danger, and then when he came home, he couldn’t get that out of his brain. It was driving him crazy — he was suicidal.”
Hespe said that getting a service dog helped support that veteran in his recovery.
“He said that the dog saved his life because he didn’t have to worry about what happened behind him anymore,” Hespe said. “He just had to worry about what was in front of him. Dogs sense when [people] start to panic, and they warn them — it’s amazing what they can do.”
Written By: Rory Conlon — city@theaggie.org
