Disabled Vet Get ... With His Servic
Air Force veteran Clay Luthy needs Charlotte, his service dog, in order to work. Lowe’s gave them both a chance
Charlotte is friendly and always ready to help. But despite her uncanny ability to put a smile on the face of anyone who meets her, she’s different from the other workers who roam the aisles at the Lowe’s store in Abilene, Texas. She gets paid, as one of the cashiers joked, “three biscuits an hour.”
Charlotte is a 10-yearold golden retriever and medical service dog. And she’s been a supportive presence at the home improvement store right alongside her owner, disabled Air Force veteran Clay Luthy, 35, since he landed a job there in the fall of 2016. The dynamic duo flew under the radar until early December, when Lowe’s customers Judy and Brian Rose accidentally upped their profile: Touched when they saw Clay and Charlotte working together, they snapped a photo to share with Judy’s Facebook friends. Within days, it had gone viral, racking up more than 200,000 shares and 13,000 comments on the original post alone, turning the vet and his dog into internet stars. “I was shocked,” Clay tells In Touch with a laugh. After all, he wasn’t looking for attention. “I found a way to have a productive life. And my prescription is four-legged.”
The married father of three, who enlisted after Sept. 11, just wanted to help his family make ends meet. He’d undergone five surgeries since blowing out both knees working as a loadmaster on a C-130 aircraft during two tours in Qatar and one in Uzbekistan from 2002 to 2006. “I wanted to continue and reenlist, but because of my knees, they denied my re-enlistment,” he explains. ( While Clay, who adopted Charlotte as a puppy, declined to comment on the exact reason he requires a service dog, many vets use them to ease symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.)
After years of working as a handyman, he took a chance. “I asked the store manager if I should bother applying, and he didn’t bat an eye. He said, ‘Absolutely,’” Clay recalls. “When I went for my interview, I showed the hiring manager my prescription, which says Charlotte is a medical necessity, and he just said, ‘Not a problem.’” Clay got the job. “We knew Clay was going to make a great employee,” Jay Fellers, who hired the vet, tells In Touch. “And now we have Charlotte, too!”
Charlotte even has her own uniform: a red and blue vest Clay made out of an old employee apron. But because she’s nearing retirement age she’ll soon be passing it on — to her 7-month-old puppy Lola, who’s currently being trained as a medical service animal so she can eventually take Mom’s place. But for now, Clay and Charlotte will continue helping customers together. “Lowe’s has been wonderful,” Clay tells In Touch. “The job is a lot of fun, and Charlotte loves it. And,” he adds, “everyone loves Charlotte.”