NEADS is a nonprofit charity organization that trains service dogs. In order to have more funds it is starting to sell stuffed service dogs.
NEADS is a Princeton Mass. nonprofit that will be bolstering its fledgling retail operation, the Boston Globe reports. It is not the first time NEADS has sold stuffed animals.
Last time it did, they all sold out in about the day. Mind you, they were not that many.
This time though things are a little different. NEADS is offering a stuffed animal version of Rescue.
He is a black labrador named by the Worcester Fire Department in honor of firefighter Jon Davies who rode on a firetruck named Rescue 1 and died in a building collapse in 2011.
Rescue was trained at NEADS and he is now a service dog for Jessica Kensky who lost a leg in the Boston Marathon bombing. Sadly recently Kensy underwent another surgery to amputate her other leg which was badly injured. Rescue stuffed dogs were also sold out quickly.
Recently the organization offered 150 extra versions of Rescue. They were with a Valentine’s Day theme and had a heart-shaped name tag, reg service dogg cape and a booklet describing Rescue’s life so far.
The stuffed dogs also come with a miniature doghouse from printed paperboard. This serves also as the packaging and was made by Boutwell, Owens & Co. The company Unicorr Packaging Group donated the boxes for shipping.
The Valentine’s Day edition of Rescue cost 51 dollars and was sold out quickly. Given how quickly the first round sold, “it was just a no-brainer” to order more of them, says Tamara Beland, retail manager for NEADS.
The organization also stresses the importance of Rescue. “The story of Rescue is so important — the fact that he was named after a fallen firefighter and then placed with a Marathon bombing survivor — and it really speaks to us at NEADS, who we are, and what we do on a daily basis”, Beland adds.
So you can be sure there will be more stuffed service dogs made. But you will have to keep a look out as they are selling out realy quickly. The organization is planning another round of new items in late February.
