The Register Citizen (Torrington, CT)
‘Finding ways to help every person’
Winsted service-dog agency helps injured veterans adapt
WINSTED — Four years ago, Navy veteran Tom Williamson was paired with a service dog named Sequoia.
Williamson, who did five tours of duty in Vietnam, has congestive heart failure and uses a defibrillator to regulate his heart. He also uses a wheelchair after losing both his legs to diabetes. In the Navy, he was a corpsman, working with Marines in the field. His injuries ended his military career in the mid-1980s.
“I had a stroke in November 1983, and another one in April 1984, and retired in October of that year,” he said. He’s a member of the Connecticut Veterans Hall of Fame, and has received five Purple Heart medals, as well as the Silver Star.
Today he lives in Waterford with his partner, Bill Wescott. When he was paired with Sequoia, a female golden retriever from Educated Canines Assisting with Disabilities in Winsted, his life changed for the better. “She was able to retrieve things for me, help me pick them up, and she was a wonderful companion,” Williamson said.
But after only four years, Sequoia developed cancer and died. “It was a shock, losing her, “Williamson said. “I felt like I lost my left arm.”
Williamson and Wescott contacted ECAD founders and owners Lu and Dale Picard as soon as Sequoia got sick. The Picards had another service dog, Peaches, who was fully trained and awaiting a new companion.
“Peaches came back to us after she didn’t work out with her new partner, and she needed a new home,” said Lu Picard, during a graduation ceremony Wednesday at the training facility on Newfield Road. She said if a dog isn’t placed successfully, it’s important to find them another companion as soon as possible, before their age affects their specialized training.
“Tom loves Peaches, and you can see they have a special bond,” Picard said. “Tom already had a dog, and he lost her
long before her time. Now he has Peaches. They’re together now.”
Williamson wasn’t the only graduate at the ceremony. Five other veterans with physical and/or emotional disabilities also graduated with their dogs, including Navy veteran Stephanie Rohe of Williamstown, N.J., and her dog Betta; retired Army police officer Kristin Hernandez of Killingworth and her dog Tee Time; retired Marine Ken Bohaty of Mountain Home, Ark., and his dog Blade; Army veteran Laura Williamson of Cincinnati, Ohio, and her dog Toucan; and Israeli army veteran Zvia Ratz of Woodside, N.Y., and her dog Happy.
Prior to founding ECAD, Lu Picard helped several business organizations in their startup efforts and gained experience in business and administration. When her father suffered a stroke, she saw how much he hated being dependent on her. She taught their family pet to help him get up from a chair and retrieve some items, and noticed that her father became more active and less depressed than when all his help had come from a human.
She said she saw firsthand how service dogs could change people’s lives, and in 1995 quit her full-time job to start ECAD. A year later, her husband, Dale, also gave up his own business to work full time for ECAD. Dale Picard, who was selfemployed for many years, helped establish the service dog agency: he purchased land in Connecticut, constructed kennels and offices and redesigned the house in which the couple and their two daughters lived.
Since then, ECAD has received a nonprofit status and has placed more than 350 assistance dogs nationwide.
Each client is paired with a dog who learns that person’s needs and accommodates their limitations. Hernandez, who served four years with the Army, was injured in a collision while serving in Germany. She suffered a traumatic brain injury and suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder. Her relationship with Tee Time is “great,” she said.
“The training was like being a child and learning how to be with a service dog,” Hernandez said. She explained that her PTSD and TBI kept her isolated and afraid to be out in public. The dog keeps her grounded, nudges her awake when she has a nightmare, and helps her retain balance and confidence. Her training time at ECAD brought new friends into her life, particularly Ratz and her dog, Happy.
“I’m nervous and excited about going home, but I don’t want to leave my friends,” Hernandez said, fighting back tears. “We bond with other people and become friends . ... We’ve studied together, eat together. We’re like a family.”
Ratz, who teaches eighth-grade math at Mott Hall School in Manhattan, will have Happy by her side daily in her classroom. She has neuropathy in her feet, making walking and balance difficult and requiring a cane. She also has “long COVID-19,” meaning her symptoms are recurring, and has complications from diabetes. Happy will provide the balance she needs, eliminating the cane.
Laurie Williamson is still considered a classified soldier by the U.S. government. Her service in the Army resulted in she and 229 other enlisted men and women being exposed to biological agents and radioactive material, leaving them with a range of disabilities and illnesses. Williamson is fatally allergic to bleach, lavender and patchouli, among other fragrant materials, and risks anaphylactic shock if exposed. When she first arrived at ECAD at the start of February, the team had no idea how serious her allergies were.
Her reactions were so severe that she ended up in the hospital right after she arrived, but was able to return to ECAD after just a few days to continue her training with Toucan. The dog carries her medication and reminds her to take them, and helps with laundry, opening doors and retrieving. The dog’s greatest gift, Williamson said, is peace of mind for her and her four children in Ohio. “Now if I have a problem, Toucan will alert, and I’ll be OK,” she said.
“We learned a lot from Laurie, and about what we need to do for people like Laurie,” Lu Picard said. “We’re a dog facility, we use bleach. We use lavender (sprays). But now we know what to do, and we were able to clear things out and keep her safe. It validated how we can accommodate our clients, no matter what.”
The Picards said they often accept clients that other service dog organizations cannot. “We want to stay in that niche, where we say ‘yes’ to people that others say ‘no’ to,” Lu Picard said. “We did it, and we’ll continue to do it, to find ways to help every person.”
Donations to support ECAD are always needed, and the agency depends on its sponsors, volunteers and many donors. To reach ECAD, visit www.ecad1.org, or call 860489-6550.