Generally, there is a long waiting list to be matched with a service dog. And the cost of training a service dog can average around $20,000. A foundation in Dutchess County is focused on bringing dogs and people together to end discrimination, and COVID-19 has shifted some of how this happens. WAMC’s Hudson Valley Bureau Chief Allison Dunne recently visited the nonprofit Animal Farm Foundation in Amenia to learn more.
Cows meander on a large farm that is also home to rescued and retired horses and rescued cats. Animal Farm FoundationExecutive Director Stacey Coleman herself has four goats and a donkey. And while the animals may live out their lives in this haven, they also serve to educate the public and they help socialize dogs in the foundation’s primary program — the Service Dog Program.